


Oracle Syndrome

by CassadyFlies



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, M/M, Slow Burn, Time Travel, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-10-13 04:29:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10506333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassadyFlies/pseuds/CassadyFlies
Summary: It's been a year since the time-turner fiasco, and Scorpius and Albus have put time-travel in the past. However, that past may be coming back to haunt them when strange symptoms begin to show up in the boys. It's a literal race against time as bizarre visions disrupt their academics and threaten to overtake their lives.





	1. Quarantine

Albus gazed dully at the nub of white chalk that was streaking its way noisily across the blackboard, scribbling spells they were meant to be learning. It was the very beginning of the year, and already he was burnt out. School was frustrating. He had too many questions, none of which the teachers seemed able to answer, and all of which annoyed his classmates who didn’t want to learn more than what was required.

“What’s the point of wands if wandless magic is possible? And what’s the point of all this Latin if wordless magic is possible? What makes Latin so special? People invent new spells all the time, couldn’t we make one in English? Something I know how to pronounce?” He ranted and rambled on as he and Scorpius made their way to the great hall for dinner.

“Well, wands are less electrically conductive than humans since they’re made of wood, and magic is anti-electric. That’s why we can’t have Muggle technology here,” Scorpius explained. “The words are really just a way to invoke very specific intention. It’s easier to tie intention to words than it is to fickle thought.” He paused. “As for the Latin, I’m not really sure. A few spells are in Greek, that I know. Newer spells such as the one your namesakes invented are rare. It takes a very powerful wizard to create a new spell. Who knows why they chose Latin. Maybe there’s a good reason, maybe it’s just tradition. I don’t know.” He smiled. “Let’s go-”

“To the library,” Albus finished his sentence. “Not now, I’m hungry.” His stomach rumbled as if trying to prove it.

The tables were already stacked with food when they arrived. One thing Albus loved about school was the food. It was a thousand times better than his father’s half-hearted attempt at cooking. Salivating, Albus loaded his plate with pork chops, potatoes, grilled corn, and fresh baked bread. Amazing. It was so good he could almost forget about the slaves who cooked it. Almost. His aunt had unfortunately drilled morals into his head, and nothing problematic was fully enjoyable anymore.

“Nobody cooks better than brainwashed elf-slaves,” he announced to Scorpius, who grimaced.

“It’s fine, they’re happy.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and forked a few bites of food onto his plate. Albus never understood how Scorpius got by eating so little.

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t like to think about it.” He chewed slowly, thinking about it anyway. “You know, we don’t make Kreacher do anything anymore, and he seems a little lost sometimes. He just sort of cleans things and grumbles at my mum for not mopping properly.”

“Oh, right, your elf.” Scorpius nodded. “I forgot about him.”

Albus smirked around a mouthful of potatoes. “We’re not supposed to call him “our” elf.” He rolled his eyes. “He’s his own man, apparently. According to Aunt Hermione.” Albus swallowed and sighed. “We’ve tried sending him to Hogwarts, McGonagall’s paying some of the elves now, but he won’t leave, the brat. He’s fully dedicated to maintaining the ancient and most noble house of Black.” He glanced at Scorpius, who seemed to have zoned out. “Am I boring you?” He asked, amused.

Scorpius blinked dazedly. “It’s fine, they’re happy.”

“Eh?” Albus squinted at him. “What’s that, now?”

Scorpius shook himself. “Ah, sorry. I was… remembering. I guess.”

Something about that struck Albus wrong. Before he could ask a followup question, however, his chest contracted and suddenly the lights were too bright. “Should we…” He shook his head and struggled to suppress the strange fight-or-flight response that was creeping unexpectedly through his veins. “Ah… neveryoumind, it’s fine.” What a strange sensation. He was probably just hungry. Shrugging it off, Albus shoved nearly half his plate of food into his mouth in one bite.

Scorpius, on the other hand, looked unnaturally pale.

Albus frowned, concerned. “You okay, mate?”

Scorpius shook his head. “I think I’m gonna throw up.” He stood suddenly and dashed away without another word.

Albus watched him go, debating whether or not to follow him. “Nah,” he muttered to himself and reloaded his plate with food. It wasn’t entirely unusual for Scorpius to fall ill. He had a more fragile constitution and was prone to catching anything that might be going around. Conversely, Albus was bulletproof. He counted never getting sick as one of his main blessings in life, although it often forced him into the position of caretaker to his less fortunate friend.

Scorpius didn’t return for the rest of dinner, and Albus only saw him again in their dormitory hours later, curtains around his bed drawn tight.

“Mate, you feeling okay?” Albus called out carefully, eyeing the drawn curtains suspiciously. “It’s almost curfew, so if we need to go to the hospital wing, speak up now.”

“I’m fine,” Scorpius replied unconvincingly.

Albus raised an eyebrow and pulled back the curtain. Scorpius was sitting with his knees to his chest, wrapped in his blanket. “You don’t look fine,” Albus countered, and sat on the edge of the bed. “You look like a hungover mountain troll.”

Scorpius rolled his eyes. “Gee, thanks.”

Albus opened his mouth to reply, but found his words lost. Before he had time to freak out, he felt his mind slip sideways, and the disconcerting sensation of deja vu overwhelmed him. He felt himself splinter into the air around him, and everything suddenly made beautiful sense.

For a couple seconds.

Back in reality, Albus realized something was probably amiss. “Come on, we’re going to see Madam Pomfrey.”

“I don’t want to,” Scorpius complained, snuggling deeper into his blanket.

“I think  _ I  _ need to.” Panic crept up in his chest, and he wondered if he was dreaming. “I think something’s happening.”

Scorpius sat up straight. “What?”

“I don’t know. Come on, we gotta go.” Albus stood and nearly blacked out. “Whoa.” He blinked and the world seemed to lurch forward. Like the universe was moving around him, taking him out of the dorm while he sat still. “Uh oh.”

“You guys okay?” Marcus Nott pulled back the curtains of his own bed and peered at them curiously. “You look hexed.”

“Maybe.” Albus grabbed onto that idea with hope. Yeah, probably someone was just being a major prick and playing some sort of cruel prank. “I need to go to the hospital.”

Marcus laughed. “Someone got you bad, huh?”

“Yeah.” Albus tried to move. He really did try. Yet, somehow, things didn’t happen. He couldn’t tell what he needed to do first. Walk? Deal with Scorpius? Call for help? Probably the latter. His head felt clearer upon deciding. “Marcus, I need you to go get someone.”

Marcus snorted. “Bollocks to that. This is your problem, not mine.”

Albus took a deep breath, trying to restrain himself. “Nott, if you don’t do something, I swear on my life I will tell Anjelica about that thing you said when you were wanking the other night and forgot to cast a silencing charm and-”

“Fine! Shut up!” Marcus interrupted hastily. “I’ll go get Madam Pomfrey.”

“Thanks, you’re a dear.” Albus rolled his eyes and sat down heavily on the edge of Scorpius’ bed. “Hurry.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Marcus grumbled as he stalked out.

Almost as soon as he was gone, Albus felt better. Like clearing your sinuses, but your whole brain. “Whoa.”

He took long, deep breaths as he waited for Madam Pomfrey to arrive. He needed to calm down. He needed to explain himself clearly. He needed to-

Everything vanished when the door to his dormitory opened again, allowing Madam Pomfrey, Marcus, and a gaggle of curious onlookers into the room. Everything spun and Albus wasn’t sure what to do. He had too much information in his head, and he couldn’t sort any of it. It was overstimulation to the extreme.

He only barely managed to point at Scorpius and say “Him too” before being ushered quickly out of the dungeon. Maybe it was something about knowing he was rescued, but Albus gave up. He felt himself blacking out and he welcomed it. His vision tunneled and he breathed a sigh of relief that it would all be quiet in a moment. That’s what he needed. Quiet. Quiet and dark and nobody around to overwhelm him. Perfect.

 

*******

 

When Albus passed out, Scorpius panicked. Albus wasn’t supposed to do that. He was supposed to be the resilient one. He was supposed to make it through anything.

Madam Pomfrey quickly levitated Albus’ body before he could hit the floor and spared a nervous glance at Scorpius as if to ensure he wasn’t also unconscious.

Scorpius had been to the hospital wing plenty of times, but he’d never seen the room she took them into. It was closed off and sealed with a nebulous enchantment that Scorpius couldn’t identify on sight. Only one bed sat in the corner, so she doubled it quickly and gestured for Scorpius to sit down.

“Where are we?”

“Quarantine.”

_ “Quarantine?!”  _ Scorpius gasped, terrified. “Why? What’s wrong with us?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s just a precaution.” She carefully adjusted Albus’ limbs so he wasn’t sprawled out haphazardly. “What happened?”

Scorpius shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t think whatever’s wrong with him is what’s wrong with me, though. I think I’m just ill. He seemed…” Scorpius hesitated, not wanting to use the term “drugged” and admit he knew what Albus looked like drugged. “He seemed to not know what was happening around him,” he settled for. “His eyes got wide and he was sort of staring at everything like he was hallucinating or something.”

Madam Pomfrey nodded. “And what were you doing just before you took ill?”

“Eating dinner, but I’m not really worried about myself. I wasn’t even going to mention it to anyone.” He looked nervously at Albus’ still unconscious form. “I’m not sure what he was-” Scorpius broke off, his voice failing him. His vision glazed over as he recalled their conversation during dinner.

_ “He’s fully dedicated to maintaining the ancient and most noble house of Black.” Albus scoffed, then frowned. He shifted in his seat, looking curiously at Scorpius, who was staring blankly ahead of himself, his pace ashen and his pupils blown wide. _

_ “Am I boring you?” He asked, joking over a hurt expression. _

_ Scorpius snapped out of it, visibly shaking himself out of whatever reverie he’d been consumed with. “It’s fine, they’re happy.” _

_ “Eh? What’s that now?” Albus frowned at the non-sequitur. _

_ Scorpius seemed to briefly struggle with his thoughts before he realized what he’d said. “Ah, sorry. I was… remembering. I guess.” _

_ Albus looked like he was going to reply, but before he could, all expression melted off his face. Like Scorpius, his pupils dilated dramatically. He stared ahead of himself for a short moment before snapping back to reality. “Should we…” His pupils dilated again, and his fingers twitched nervously. “Ah... Neveryoumind, it’s fine.” _

Scorpius blinked in the bright light that was inexplicably in his eyes. “What the…?!”

“Oh, good. Not out for too long, then.” Madam Pomfrey extinguished the light from her wand and smiled. “Now, that was interesting, wasn’t it? Can you explain what just happened?”

“I… what do you mean?”

“You seemed catatonic for a moment, there.”

Scorpius’ stomach lurched. “No, I was just… Hm. I really don’t feel well.”

Madam Pomfrey shoved a potion in his hands. “Drink this.”

Scorpius drank it all in one and relished in the instant relief. “I was remembering, I think. Earlier today. I saw my pupils dilate and I was sort of… staring into space.”

“You say you saw yourself? In a memory?” Madam Pomfrey looked interested.

“Oh, right. I guess I wasn’t just remembering, then.” He ran his hands through his hair nervously. “And I think it actually might be the same. As Albus. I saw him do it, too.” He tucked his feet underneath himself. “What’s happening?”

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. “I’m afraid I have to tell you I don’t know. Given the severity of the symptoms here, I’m going to have to require that you stay awhile in the quarantine room. I can’t say for certain if whatever this is is communicable, but since it’s affecting two students who are often in close proximity with one another, I can’t take any chances.”

Scorpius bunched the blankets up between his fingers. “What does “awhile” mean?”

“Until I have a better idea as to what’s going on.”

“But Ma’am, I have schoolwork to turn in!” He thought desperately about the books he had stacked under his bed back in the dormitories.

“I’ll make sure your professors know what’s going on. You’ll be fine.”

From across the room, Albus groaned. “Whas’ goin’ on?”

Madam Pomfrey bustled over to inspect him, leaving Scorpius bereft and frustrated. Madam Pomfrey had no answers, and he wasn’t even allowed to go to the library to search for himself? What absolute torture. “Could I at least get some books or something? It’s going to be awfully boring in here.”

Madam Pomfrey shushed him.

Scorpius groaned. “Do I- Should we- should my father know about this?”

She froze, then turned around slowly. “You may have another student bring your books tomorrow.”

Scorpius realized with chagrin that he may have come across more threatening than genuinely inquisitive. “I didn’t mean-”

“Goodnight, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Potter.” She swept out of the room before Scorpius had a chance to say anything else.

Albus sat up with a groan. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

Scorpius sighed. “Quarantine.”

_ “What?!”  _ Albus’ jaw dropped. “Why? Is this contagious? Are there others? How did it happen?”

“She doesn’t know. Anything. And we’re stuck here until she does.”

“No way!” Albus hid his head in his hands. “What do we do?”

Scorpius didn’t answer. He didn’t know. Fear curled deep inside his gut, a terrible foreboding feeling. Sitting in the dim moonlight that filtered through the windows, he tried to suppress the thoughts racing through his head telling him he might die. He looked up in surprise when his bedsprings contracted and Albus sat down next to him.

“It’ll be okay.” Albus patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. “We’ll be fine.”

Scorpius nodded mutely.

“She’s probably just being overly cautious by putting us here. I’m sure it’ll turn out to be something simple, she’ll fix it, and we’ll get out of here by lunch tomorrow.” He gave a strained smile.

Scorpius nodded again, though he didn’t believe it. In all his years at school, he’d never even heard of a quarantine room, let alone heard of someone who’d used it. He glanced around. It was dusty. It was quite possible nobody had even entered the room in years. The idea that Madam Pomfrey was being “overly cautious” seemed a stretch. The regular hospital beds were likely all empty at this hour, so the dangers of keeping them in those had to be pretty large if they were here.

Albus sighed. “Let’s just go to sleep. Try to get this all over with.” Scorpius nodded, and Albus went back to his bed.

Silently, Scorpius wriggled under the sheets and pulled the blanket up to his chin. He wasn’t remotely sleepy.

“Night,” Albus called.

Scorpius swallowed roughly around the lump in his throat and called back, “Goodnight.”


	2. Visionary

“Al!” “Oi!” “Albus!”

Albus woke with a start to the sound of people calling his name. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and sat up, frowning in annoyance at the startling alarm clock that were his family members just beyond the doorway.

“What?”

“What do you mean, what?” Rose stuck out her hip in exasperation. “Are you okay?”

“Dunno. Not sure what’s happening.”

Lily looked anxious. “We heard you were taken to the hospital wing, but we didn’t know it was  _ this  _ bad! I didn’t even know we  _ had  _ a quarantine room.”

“Neither did I.”

“How’s it going, boy? How you feeling?” Hugo tugged on the ends of his sleeves nervously. He had a habit of doing that.

“Tired, you woke me up.”

“It’s lunch!” Victoire shoved her way through her cousins.

“Merlin, how many of you are there?” Albus raised an eyebrow bemusedly.

“I’m here too!” Fred struggled to poke his head through the crowd.

“Also me!” Roxanne followed her brother.

“Hi, Albus.” Dominique stepped forward, followed by Louis.

“Stop pushing!” Molly complained as she pushed forwards.

“I’m not! You are!” Lucy pouted at her sister. “Hi, Al.”

Albus frowned. “You’re all a fire hazard.”

“I see so much orange, are we sure there’s not already fire?” Scorpius piped up from his bed.

Louis rolled his eyes.“Ha ha. Cram it, Malfoy.”

Scorpius looked rather pleased with himself.

“Why are you here?” Albus stretched and clambered awkwardly out of bed.

“We heard you went mad!” Fred grinned and prodded the nebulous barrier in the doorway with his finger. It wobbled like jelly.

“I didn’t. I’m not.” Albus crossed his arms, annoyed at the idea. “Oh, hey Lils, could you send a message to Mum and Dad for me? Let them know what’s going on but not to worry about it?”

Lily grinned sheepishly. “Well…”

“We’re here, too, Albus.” Ginny shooed away the crowd of cousins to allow herself and Harry passage. “And we sent a message to your father, Scorpius, he’ll be here shortly.”

“Okay.” Scorpius seemed a little overwhelmed by all the Weasleys.

“Too many visitors!” Madam Pomfrey shrieked what seemed to be on Scorpius’ mind. Half the clan scattered, and the rest just took a few half hearted steps backwards. “Is everything alright, boys?”

Albus shrugged and looked at Scorpius, who also shrugged.

“May I go get my books now?” Scorpius huffed.

“You absolutely may  _ not,”  _ Madam Pomfrey retorted. “However, if you’d like to ask one of your friends here to get them for you, that would be alright.”

Albus tried not to smirk at the suggestion that any one of the ten Weasleys was Scorpius’ friend. “Rose, could you-”

“Why and  _ how?” _ Rose interrupted rudely.

Albus narrowed his eyes, trying not to be too annoyed. “Because you’re a nice person and I was going to say  _ ask  _ someone for me. If you’d listen,” he couldn’t help but add. “Ask Marcus Nott or whoever Slytherin to get mine and Scorpius’ books,  _ please,”  _ he emphasized sarcastically. “Don’t you want us to do schoolwork? You’re gonna make us fail.”

Rose hesitated. “Alright. Since it’s lunch anyway and all the snakes are currently in one convenient location.” She shuffled off, clearly trying to show with every step how much of a burden it was for her.

“Are you feeling alright?” Ginny asked, prodding the barrier like Fred had done.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sure it’s nothing.” Albus shrugged, not wanting to worry her. “It was just last night, so maybe we’re even better by now, I don’t know.”

The remaining Weasley cousins darted off suddenly, telegraphing the arrival of Draco Malfoy.

“Scorpius, are you alright?” He shoved past Harry and Ginny with a frantic look in his eyes. “What happened? What did you do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything.” Scorpius sighed.

“Surely she’s not keeping you here without reason.” Draco shot an annoyed look at Madam Pomfrey.

“Until we better know what’s going on, we’re keeping them isolated,” she replied defensively.

“How are they supposed to keep up with their schoolwork? This seems rash at best and inhumane at worst.” Draco stared her down.

“I will not risk the safety of my students, Mr. Malfoy. Scorpius will be fine for a couple of days while we figure this out.” She squared her stance to counter him.

“Am I to believe that you’ve never encountered an ailment you couldn’t instantly identify? Because if I remember correctly, we had no idea where all the petrified students were coming from back in 1992, and nobody was quarantined back then.” He scowled and Albus silently rooted for him.

“Petrification is  _ not  _ a communicable disease. We may not have known the source, but we did know the ailment.” She waggled her shoulders a little like she needed to physically shake off the implied attacks on her skill as a nurse.

Draco didn’t seem deterred. “What about when Astoria and Daphne were sick? Did you know what was wrong with them? They weren’t even removed from class.”

“The Greengrass family made it clear to me what the issue was. I was well aware of their condition before they fell ill.” She looked nervously at Scorpius. “Is that really a topic you want to bring up in front of your son?”

“Scorpius is well aware of his mother’s illness, and if you’re so concerned with his mental well-being, solitary confinement probably isn’t the best idea.”

“Solitary,” she tutted. “He’s not alone, is he? He’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Regardless, it seems to me that there is little precedence for locking up students just because they’re sick.”

“1939.” Scorpius spoke up suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him sharply.

“What?” Albus frowned at him, confused.

“In 1939, five young girls were sent to quarantine when they slowly began to swell with fluids that slowed their movements and impaired their speech. For two months, nobody could think of what to do with them. It was too highly contagious to allow for anyone to come in contact with them. Not even caretakers were allowed in the room. Everything was brought by house elves that couldn’t be done by magic. Every elf who came in contact with them died. Two months after the fifth girl was locked up, all five of them passed away in one night. Nobody knew why.” He tilted his head slightly, like he was considering something, though his expression remained disturbingly blank. “I know why. One of the girls was so distraught from having spent months inside a small room that she had a mental breakdown and killed them all. Victoria Fawley. She was the first one to fall ill. Her father Hector Fawley was Minister for Magic at the time and the trauma from losing his daughter caused him to lose the next election. Rumours circulated that it was really Grindelwald who killed the girls in order to get to the minister. They weren’t entirely wrong. A crazed supporter of the Revolution for the Greater Good infected Victoria with the illness, and later died of it himself. That was the last time this room was used.”

Everyone stood in dead silence while Scorpius spoke. When he was done, there was an audible intake of breath.

_ “What?!”  _ Albus gasped, horrified. “Merlin, that was dark.”

Scorpius blinked slowly. He looked stunned. A moment later he went deathly pale and collapsed back down onto his pillow.

“Scorpius!” Albus and Draco cried out in unison. Albus leapt out of bed to check on him, and Draco shoved the nebulous barrier as hard as he could- to no avail.

“He’s breathing, he just passed out,” Albus affirmed as Madam Pomfrey ran through the barrier and shoved Albus out of the way.

Draco relaxed fractionally. “What was-” He broke off suddenly, his eyes widening. “I need to go to the library,” he announced before dashing away.

Albus almost smiled. “Dunno how anyone ever questioned Scorpius’ parentage.”

“Are we even allowed in the library?” Harry wondered aloud. “We’re not students anymore.”

“I don’t think anybody’s ever told him no.” Ginny shook her head.

“Scorpius, I h-have your books. Also parchment and quills. W-was that your dad I ju-ust saw?” Henry Flint strolled in, flipping through one of Scorpius’ many non-school books. When he looked up and read the mood of the room, he fell silent. “Oh no... What’s all th-this?”

Albus walked up to the barrier. “Just give them to me.”

Flint pushed the books through the barrier as far as he could given that his hands couldn’t pass through. “Albus, what’s up? What’s h-happening? I saw you l-leave l-la-la,” he broke off and sighed. “Yesterday. And I know Malfoy’s been s-sick… er... so is this a… a r-real problem or...?”

“We don’t know. Pomfrey seems to think so.” Albus glanced back at the woman in question who was busy counting Scorpius’ heart rate by the looks of it.

“Do you r-really think s-someone’s… you know… hexed you?” He lowered his voice as if that made it so Harry and Ginny couldn’t hear, despite the fact that they were standing right next to him.

“Dunno. Mr. Malfoy just took off running to the library, so we may have answers soon. He seemed to have thought of something.” As much as Albus hated Henry less than the rest of his roommates, he really wasn’t in the mood to be having a conversation. “Just… I don’t know exactly what people are saying, but I’m pretty sure this is just going to turn out stupid in the end. Thanks for bringing the books. Might as well do homework while I’m stuck here.”

“Alright.” Henry looked like he was bursting with questions, but whether due to politeness or difficulty articulating, he didn’t ask them. He just sort of waved awkwardly and bounced away.

“Who was that?” Harry jerked his thumb in the direction Henry had left.

“Henry Flint. He’s not terrible.” Albus shrugged and went to dump the books on his bed. “People in Slytherin don’t really talk to him.” Albus peered over Madam Pomfrey’s shoulder as she finished inspecting Scorpius.

“Marcus Flint’s kid, d’you reckon?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know who Marcus Flint is, but maybe.” Albus sat down on Scorpius’ bed once Madam Pomfrey left. “What do you think Mr. Malfoy’s after?”

“Who knows.” Harry scoffed. “He’s not exactly the sociable type, so I’m sure he’ll only tell us after he’s figured everything out.”

Albus opened his mouth to respond and found that he couldn’t. Dread washed over him as the world split in two and colours drained into each other, turning murky brown. Invisible claws grabbed his tongue and he had the bizarre sensation that he was going multiple directions at once. Like he was nothing but a collection of still images that made up a flip book, but all laid out flat on a table. He could see each one. He could see the future ones.

He was running down a hallway. Books. There were lots of books and only one of them was the right one. That one. The green one. A pale hand reached for it. The words leapt off the page and scrawled across the air something Albus couldn’t read. A photograph. A circle. Another circle. A sphere and another sphere. The circles joined together concentrically. The spheres joined together as a three dimensional number eight. It was so familiar, but Albus couldn’t place it.

He felt himself speaking. “Alone, in a room, away from the eyes of the world. Don’t let them in. Please, don’t let them in.” Terror and sadness welled up inexplicably in his chest. “Don’t let them in!”

Like smacking into a brick wall, everything suddenly stopped. Albus blinked rapidly, disoriented. When he looked up, everyone had moved. Scorpius was awake, Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, and his parents and Draco were all sitting in chairs looking at him in shock.

His mother stood up slowly and spoke very carefully, like she was approaching a wild animal. “Albus, love, can you hear me?”

Albus nodded, a bit nervous about her tone. “Yes. What just happened?”

“Harry, go get Poppy.”

Harry stood slowly as well, and took off walking quickly like a child told not to run around the pool.

“How long was I…” Albus trailed off, realizing Scorpius was wearing different clothing.

“Twelve hours,” Scorpius said in awe. “We thought you’d never snap out of it!” His lower lip trembled. “Are… are you-”

“I’m fine. I feel fine.” He did. It seemed odd given what had happened to Scorpius, but he really did feel fine. “Oh. I’m in my own bed.” He’d been sitting on Scorpius’ bed, hadn’t he?

“Yes…” Scorpius looked confused.

“Madam Pomfrey moved you,” Ginny explained.

“You really feel fine?” Scorpius asked carefully.

“Yes,” Albus insisted. “Completely.”

With that confirmation, Scorpius leapt out of bed and knocked Albus over with a hug. “I thought you might never wake up!” he sobbed.

“It was only twelve hours, right?” Albus gasped under Scorpius’ meager weight. “Urg… gerroff.” He shoved Scorpius away.

Scorpius just scooted over to sit pressed up against Albus’ side. “I dunno what’s gonna happen to us, though. What if in the end we just… turn off?”

Albus flushed at the proximity. “Mate. Come on.” Albus tried to look annoyed, but the genuine fear in Scorpius’ eyes made that difficult. He sighed. “We’ll probably be fine.”

Draco cleared his throat.

“What, did you find something?” Albus looked up, intrigued.

Draco nodded. “We think so.” He paused, looking uncomfortable.

A chill ran down Albus’ spine. “Well? Don’t just- don’t just pause after saying something so ominous, what did you find?”

Ginny spoke up. “There’s a chance- and we’re not certain, but there’s a chance that… Well, it’s been documented that some people who travel great distances in time can develop certain abilities. Like the ability to see the future, or the past.”

Albus flooded with relief. “So we’re Seers now. That’s fine. That’s pretty cool, actually.”

“Not Seers,” Draco said. “Oracles.”

Albus frowned. “What’s the difference?”

“While Seers may speak prophecies on occasion, Oracles are… omniscient, I suppose would be the word.” Draco folded his hands gravely.

“Oh.” Albus didn’t see the problem. “Even better. Right?”

“We don’t know. The history of Oracles is hazy. Most are killed soon after their powers develop. Stories of those who were not killed are rare, and vary in their… presentation. Some say they live relatively normal lives and call upon their powers when needed. Others say they…” his voice got thick, and he cleared his throat. “Others say they become like shells, only ever speaking to answer questions.”

“Oh.” Albus felt like a hand was closing around his throat. “Oh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright now, things getting ready to happen! Woo!


	3. Anterograde Anamnesis

Much to both Albus and Scorpius’ relief, they were released from quarantine the next day. Madam Pomfrey had buckled under Draco’s icy glare, and had stammered out her reluctant concession to release them so long as they spent just one more night under her observation.

Scorpius immediately (predictably) dashed off to the library to research all he could on Oracles, Seers, and time travel. Albus didn’t see him until dinner when he walked in hidden behind a stack of books he’d found. He nibbled on a roll as he flipped through pages of some thick tome with tiny, handwritten letters. As interesting as the subject was (according to the mob of nosey students that had surrounded them the moment they left the hospital wing), Albus found he simply didn’t care. Quite honestly, if the curse was going to kill him, he didn’t want to know. And if it wasn’t… why worry about it? He reckoned he’d just figure it out as he went along.

“Here’s an interesting thing, Albus:” Scorpius squirmed excitedly, pointing at a passage so dense and carelessly scrawled Albus couldn’t read it. “Apparently Oracles have only been known to see either the future  _ or  _ the past. In fact, Oracles who can see the past were often overlooked, as all of their knowledge was either known by people already, or written off as nonsense. Only in fifth century BC was a “Retrograde Oracle” ever identified, and it wasn’t until after his death that he was officially recognized as such.” Scorpius hummed. “Diagoras of Melos, he was called. It’s written that he could see so far into the past that he concluded there were no gods. He’s history’s first recorded atheist.”

Albus froze with a bite of of lamb halfway to his mouth. “Reckon he was right?”

Scorpius picked at his roll nervously. “We may well find out.”

“You saw the past, Scorpius,” Albus recalled darkly.

“I did.”

They sat in silence for a long while, neither of them knowing what to say.

Albus cleared his throat just to break the painful quiet. “You think we’ll both see the past? Since we only travelled to the past? That might be how it works.”

“Could be, yeah.” Scorpius nodded thoughtfully. “You only said that one thing and it was a bit confusing as I remember.”

“Mhm.” Albus remembered his food and went back to eating. “Say, what happened to- er- Diagonus, was it?”

“Diagoras.”

“Yeah, him. Was he… you know… Was he okay?”

“Hm? Oh! I’m not sure. There’s really not much written about him.” Scorpius flipped back and forth across a couple pages. “All I know is that he fled Athens for Corinth soon after he announced his beliefs. They were going to kill him, I suppose, for not believing in the traditional Greek gods. There’s not much written about his time in Corinth. He wrote a few brief poems then died in relative obscurity.”

That was certainly not a calming thought. “Oh. Ah. Alright, then.” Albus licked his lips compulsively, not sure how to react. “So… So what about… er… forward-seeing Oracles?”

“Anterograde Oracles,” Scorpius corrected. “Of those, there’s quite a few.” He hastily flipped through a few pages. “The Oracle of Delphi, you know.”

Albus tried to laugh, but it came out as a sort of painful-sounding grunt. “Right. Yeah.”

“The irony’s almost heavy handed. One might say it was enough to prove Diagoras wrong about the existence of gods.” He laughed awkwardly. “We’re Oracles  _ because  _ of Delphi.”

“You could say it was  _ fated  _ to happen,” Albus joked.

Scorpius got quiet.

“Something wrong?” Albus asked, hoping Scorpius hadn’t slipped out of reality.

“I just realized that if we know everything about the past, we’re going to know everything about each other.” His expression was blank, but there was a spark of fear in his eyes.

Albus tried to laugh it off. “Something you’re not telling me?”

Scorpius shook his head quickly. “No. Just… Seems a little intimate.” He took a shaky breath. “It’s not that… I mean, I don’t… I… Well, I try not to be a judgemental person, but what if we… what if we don’t… what if we stop being friends?”

“That seems like a leap,” Albus tried to assure. “I can’t imagine there’s anything I’d learn about you at this point that would make me dislike you. I’ve known you since I was eleven.”

“There might be, though,” Scorpius whispered. “I mean, not anything, I’m not thinking of specifics! But… You know, there could be…”

“Oi! Albus! Scorpius!” Some Slytherin kid Albus had never spoken to wriggled in between them. “Heard you blokes could see the future. Thought I might as well know the answers to Slughorn’s next exam, what d’ya say?”

“The past,” Scorpius frowned at the intrusion. “We can see that past.”

The kid sucked his teeth. “That’s nothing special. We can all see the past, can’t we?”

Scorpius looked like he was about to explain, so Albus cut him off. “Yep, nothing special. Bugger off then, eh?”

The kid pouted. “Sure you got nothing for me? Thought I might get a chance to ask all of life’s questions. I’d like to know how I’m gonna die, you know? Then I can avoid my own death.”

“That’s not how it works,” Scorpius began, then shot a sharp look at Albus. “Albus, are you-”

Albus didn’t hear the rest. A strange feeling like fog rolling through his veins was overtaking him, and the world lurched nauseatingly. He blinked quickly, trying to clear his eyes of the strange glowing that was overtaking them. Everything looked too bright and out of focus. The entire inside of his brain felt like it needed to sneeze. A heavy metal bell rang nine times and a cliff turned sharply sideways. The rocks below ran forward like a wall until- “You’re going to fall off a cliff.” His vision tunneled, and he felt the world move around him like rushing water.

 

*******

 

Scorpius gaped in stunned silence after Albus spoke. The poor kid who’d asked the question turned ghostly white and ran off without another word. So, Albus could see the future, then? Interesting. Scorpius didn’t envy him one bit for that. Still, he was more than a little relieved he couldn’t see the past. The idea that Albus would be able to see everything Scorpius had ever done over his entire life… that was terrifying. He tapped Albus on the shoulder carefully, hoping it wasn’t going to be another twelve hours before he came back. He didn’t want to have to call Madam Pomfrey and get them locked back up for any reason.

Luckily, Albus awoke with a start before Scorpius had finished dinner. “How long was that?” he asked anxiously after he’d gotten his bearings.

Scorpius checked his watch. “A little over ten minutes. Improvement over twelve hours.”

“I’ll say. So, I can see the future then? That’s pretty wow. Plus, I said something coherent.”

“Unfortunately so.” Scorpius cringed. “You told him he was going to fall off a cliff and die.”

Albus shrugged nonchalantly. “He asked.”

A sudden thought struck Scorpius. “Oh no!”

“What?!” Albus looked at him frantically.

“How am I going to finish History of Magic? What if every time he asks a question, I answer it then blank out for ten minutes? What do I do?”

Albus looked at him like he was an idiot. “You’re worried about History of Magic? You should be happy you probably won’t have to take that boring class.” His eyes lit up. “Hey! I bet I can get out of Divination!” He gasped happily. “I’m never going to fail a test again! I’ll just be able to look forward to the review!” He squirmed like he couldn’t contain the excitement. “We should drop out of school.”

“That’s a horrible idea!” Scorpius chastised. “We still need to learn how to do things. Just because you’ll be able to pass a written exam doesn’t mean you’ve learned anything.”

Albus didn’t seem to be listening. He was smiling like he’d been told that not only had Christmas come early, but there was going to be Christmas every day for the rest of his life. At least he wasn’t moping. Scorpius was having a bit of trouble staying optimistic. The idea that they might both just shut down and become mindless prophecy machines was haunting.

With a start, Scorpius gasped. “Hey! What’s going to happen to us, can you see?”

Albus’ smile melted off at what would have been a comical speed had the stakes not been so high. “Oh, right. Erm… Let me…” He closed his eyes like he was trying to focus. After a moment, he shook his head, his cheeks a bit pink. Probably from exertion. “Nothing’s happening.”

“Really?” How disappointing. It would have been so nice to just know already. “Did I phrase it wrong, maybe?”

Albus shrugged. “Maybe.” He shoveled food into his mouth.

Scorpius thought about it for a moment, trying to come up with a very clear question. “Okay.” He paused to make sure Albus was listening. “Are the two of us going to be able to live a relatively normal life from now on?”

Albus stared down at his plate of food, frowned, and bit his lip. “I- I didn’t… No, nothing.”

“Maybe not a yes or no question, then?” That made sense. Maybe. Scorpius was willing to give it a shot, anyway. Albus just shrugged, so Scorpius asked: “What does the future hold for the two of us?”

For whatever reason, that did the trick. Scorpius saw Albus’ pupils dilate briefly, and shrunk back to normal before Scorpius could even react. “Can you hear me?” He tested carefully.

Albus nodded and refused to make eye contact, the tips of his ears turning bright red. “I didn’t… I didn’t really see enough to know what was going on.”

Scorpius frowned, confused. “Well, what did you see?”

Albus opened and closed his mouth a few times. “I… Er… Just…” He shook his head. “I just saw us sitting together.”

“Okay,” Scorpius encouraged. “Where?”

“On…” Albus cleared his throat. “On chairs. I dunno. You know, I think I’m not feeling that well from all of this. I might nip off early.”

“Oh. Okay.” Scorpius glanced down at Albus’ mostly full dinner plate. “Alright, I understand.”

Albus nodded briskly and dashed off without another word.

Odd. Scorpius picked at his food while he thought. He was practically buzzing from all the new information. Firstly, Albus could see the future, and he could see the past. That was pretty amazing. Together, they could know everything. Secondly, that last prophecy hadn’t knocked Albus out at all. Maybe they were going to get used to it. Maybe their skills would develop. Still, it did seem to wear him out. And he had looked a bit feverish before he’d run off. Maybe that too would fade with time. Then there was the questions. What specifically triggered a vision? Was it really a specific phrasing, or was it just coincidence? Would they be able to trigger their powers autonomously? If so, what were the limits on what they’d be able to see? Was there an upper limit on how far into the future Albus would be able to see? Was there a lower limit for Scorpius? Perhaps most importantly, would they be able to refuse to answer questions? It didn’t seem right that that poor kid should have to know the way he was going to die. Hopefully he didn’t believe it. Plus, what if word got out and they were swarmed with people asking questions day in and day out? That could be dangerous for the entire world. Very dangerous.

Growing paranoid, Scorpius abandoned his food and trotted quickly off to the dungeons, carefully avoiding eye contact with everyone he passed on the way.

The second he stepped into the common room, he was surrounded by people.

“Del said you can see the future! He said you told him how he’s going to die!”

“Am I ever gonna make it with Lindsay?”

“That’s a stupid question, ask something more important.”

“Will we ever overturn the Statute of Secrecy?”

“Who’s the next Minister for Magic?”

“No- who wins the next Quidditch World Cup?”

Scorpius shoved through them all and ran to his dorm, overwhelmed. At least in there only his roommates could bother him, and one of those roommates was Albus which was good.

Albus’ curtains were drawn tight.

“Albus!” Scorpius called. “Are you alright? Did you say anything to them? I don’t think this is safe.”

After a long moment, Albus pulled back the curtain. He looked battered. “You’re right. It’s not safe. I think…” He cleared his throat. “I think I know what my first prophecy meant. When I said not to let them in.” His shoulders crumpled. “I think we might need to leave. The school, that is. I think we need to go.”

Fear twisted Scorpius’ guts into a knot. “Maybe we could just… I dunno, have McGonagall make a rule? Not to talk to us?”

Albus scoffed. “You think students are going to follow that rule when every secret in the world is at their fingertips? I bet some students would be willing to get expelled just to ask one of us a question. I bet people would be willing to go to prison.”

That idea hadn’t occurred to Scorpius. He felt cold. Not like ice, not freezing and aching. More like the damp chill of the common room. Object. Not life. An item on a shelf. Empty. He tried to speak, but couldn’t find his voice. He coughed and tried again. “What do we do?”

Albus shrugged helplessly. “Get Slughorn?”

“Don’t you think he’ll want to ask us questions?”

Albus nodded considerately, then grimaced. “Get McGonagall?”

Scorpius nodded. “I’m ready to pass this off to an authority. Should we just walk right over to her office?”

Albus gestured weakly. “I suppose.”

“What if we end up saying something?”

Albus’ expression crumpled. He looked like he might cry. “I dunno.”

“Hhhey, guys?” Henry poked his head out from behind his curtains, apparently having been listening to them. “I can go get hhher. If y-you wa-want.” He laughed. “I’m trustable, y-you know. Y-you’re gonna kn-now w-what I’m say-say- asking before hhhand, r-right? Perks of a st-st-” He sighed. “Impediment. Gives y-you time to predict wwwhat I’m gonna… say.”

Scorpius glanced at Albus, who shrugged.

“That would be great, Henry.” Scorpius smiled. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” Henry beamed, leaping out of bed. “Be rrright back.” He trotted out the door happily.

Albus hummed. “Poor kid. He’s not so bad. Unfortunate he’s such a pain to talk to.”

“I hear he’s got lots of Hufflepuff friends.” Scorpius looked at the door Henry had exited through.

“Like I said, poor kid.” Albus snorted.  _ “Hufflepuffs.” _

Not five minutes later, Scorpius and Albus both jumped in surprise at the resounding “ATTENTION ALL SLYTHERINS! ALL TALKING, ALL WHISPERING, ALL WRITING, ALL COMMUNICATION OF ANY KIND IS TO CEASE THIS INSTANT! FOR EVERY WORD I HEAR, I WILL REMOVE FIFTY POINTS FROM SLYTHERIN AND PUNISH THE TRESPASSER HARSHLY. ONLY ONCE I HAVE LEFT MAY YOU RESUME SPEAKING. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?” There was a pause. “NO ANSWER? WISE. ALBUS SEVERUS POTTER AND SCORPIUS MALFOY, PLEASE CAST A SILENCING CHARM ON YOURSELVES AND COME OUT TO THE COMMON ROOM IMMEDIATELY.”

Albus and Scorpius looked at each other in shock, quickly cast the charms, and dashed out into the common room.

McGonagall was standing with her wand at her throat, amplifying her voice. She switched it off when she saw Albus and Scorpius. “Follow me.” She put a hand on each of their backs and ushered them swiftly out into the hall. “Leave the silencing charms on until we reach my office.”

They nodded their understanding.

People looked at them strangely as they bustled along through the castle. McGonagall stopped short at the statue that guarded her office. _ “Tegere liberos,”  _ she spoke the password crisply.

The statue spun where it stood, revealing the staircase that lead to the headmistress’ office. Once within the safety of her pristine suite, Scorpius removed his silencing charm. Albus seemed to be having a bit of trouble doing it nonverbally, so Scorpius did it for him.

McGonagall gestured for them to sit, and passed them each a cup of tea. “I’m sure you boys are feeling frightened at the moment.”

Scorpius nodded fervently while Albus just stared stonily.

“I’m afraid I can’t offer reassurances. This situation is particularly… troublesome. I’ve already spoken with your father, Scorpius, and I regret to say that I didn’t heed his warning then.” She folded her hands primly. “However, given the circumstances, I’m inclined to believe him. And if it is true, these prophecies, this power you both seem to have acquired, then I’m afraid I’m left with no choice.”

Scorpius’ blood ran cold.

“For both your own sakes and for the sake of your fellow students, I’m going to have the two of you removed from Hogwarts.”

Scorpius felt the world crash around him. “You can’t!”

“There is nothing to be done, Mr. Malfoy. You are no longer safe at this school.”

“Where are we gonna go?” Albus spoke up, not looking remotely upset.

McGonagall nodded. “For now, we’re sending both of you to Malfoy Manor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Albus is a _dirty_ liar. *hint hint*


	4. Megalomania

Albus had been to Malfoy Manor several times before, but never under such unusual circumstances. As such, he was having trouble remembering how to stand properly when greeting Draco, who was looking sternly at him in a way that suggested Albus had already done something wrong. “I’ve had one of Scorpius’ rooms made up for you, Albus. Your belongings arrived ahead of you, you’ll find them beside your bed. We breakfast at half eight, and after that you will attend to your studies.”

“My what?” Albus asked incredulously. “We still have to do school? But aren’t we…” he fumbled for the word. “Clairvoyant? Doesn’t that seem a bit unnecessary?”

Draco smirked. “If you were to continue following Hogwarts curriculum, yes. However, I’ve arranged for you both to follow the program used by Scorpius and other Pureblood Wizards in communities around the world for centuries. It’s better, I assure you.”

Scorpius nodded enthusiastically. “It really is.”

Albus couldn’t believe it. “Well… why did you even ever go to school, then?”

Scorpius looked at him like he was stupid. “School isn’t about learning. It’s about graduating.”

“Scorpius, why don’t you show Albus to his room?” Draco placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “It’s the blue one with the windows.”

“Alright.” Scorpius gestured for Albus to follow as he dashed off towards an ornate staircase that climbed at a gentle slope to the second level.

Albus looked around the lavish mansion as they made their way to Scorpius’ apparently plural rooms. “Doesn’t it feel strange to you that the Death Eaters used your house as a base?” he blurted out as dozens of painted gray eyes followed him.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. “No. Death Eaters  _ live  _ here. Currently.”

The obviousness of that sort of blew Albus’ mind. “Wow. You’re right. I guess I didn’t think of it that way.”

“I was a Death Eater once,” Scorpius said musingly as he pointed to a door. “In a different timeline.” Without even giving Albus a chance to react to that startling bit of information, he opened the door to a light blue room with a large bay window surrounded by a potted garden. “This is your room.”

“You were a Death Eater?” Albus asked, baffled. “But you’re… you.”

Scorpius smiled sadly. “Exactly.” He looked around the room analytically. “Does this all look alright to you? We can change whatever you want.”

“No, it’s fine, but-”

“You know, your house was used by the Death Eaters too,” Scorpius interrupted. “Did you forget?”

Albus gaped. “What?! No it wasn’t. Was it?”

Slowly, all expression slid off Scorpius’ face and his eyes darkened. “After your father, uncle, and aunt abandoned it in October 1997, the place was taken over by Death Eaters. Not to mention it  _ is  _ the Black house. Quite a few Blacks were Death Eaters, Albus. That’s my grandmother’s maiden name. It’s Delphini’s real surname, actually. I know we never asked her. Euphemia Rowle gave her that surname since it was her mother’s maiden name. Euphemia didn’t know Voldemort was her father, but she knew Rudolphus wasn’t. She wouldn’t have known the name Tom Riddle anyway. Delphini was born here, though. In Malfoy Manor in 1997.”

“Alright, I get it.” Albus held up his hands in surrender. “Careful with that, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

Scorpius frowned, returning to normal. “I do feel a bit lightheaded. But nothing too bad. It’s getting easier. Feels strange, doesn’t it?"

Albus nodded, thoroughly agreeing. “Like a bad trip.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Scorpius looked at him accusingly. “Anyway, my bedroom’s the door directly across from here. Erm… Do you still know your way about?”

“Somewhat. Mostly just this level.”

“Well, yes. This is my level. My grandparents are in the first subterranean and my father’s the floor above this one. We’re only allowed on this and the main levels,” Scorpius warned.

A part of that caught Albus’ attention. “Your grandparents live here?!”

Scorpius looked confused. “Where else would they live?”

“I dunno, prison?” Albus looked around nervously like Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy might step out from behind a plant.

“Of course not!” Scorpius looked horrified.

“Don’t look at me like I’m crazy, they were Death Eaters, mate!” Albus defended himself.

“I can’t even picture my nan in Azkaban.” Scorpius looked hurt. “She does regular nan things like sneaking me sweets when Dad says no and sending me books on Christmas.”

“She also killed people, Scorpius.” Albus was a bit surprised at Scorpius’ defense of Narcissa.

Scorpius clenched his fists and his eyes filled with tears. “Firstly, no she didn’t! Secondly,  _ your  _ nan killed her sister, so when you meet her be  _ fucking polite!”  _ He wiped his eyes hastily and took a steadying breath. “I’m going to my bedroom, I don’t feel well.” He turned to walk away.

“Wait, Scorpius-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” he snapped. “It’s been a stressful day. I just want to go to sleep.”

Albus watched him go without another word, trying not to feel at fault. “What the bloody hell was that?” he whispered to himself after Scorpius closed the door. He was probably just messed up from the visions. Albus figured he’d be better by morning.

 

*******

 

Scorpius awoke in the morning to the soft music coming from his alarm clock. It shut off when Scorpius opened his eyes, and would start up again a few minutes later if Scorpius fell back asleep. He didn’t feel remotely tired when he woke up the morning after going home, however. It was strange to be in his own bed. It was strange not to hear the sounds of his roommates getting ready for the day.

Honestly, he only really remembered Albus was there when he saw him on the stairs down to breakfast.

“A plant woke me up,” Albus said by way of good morning. “A  _ plant.” _

“They’ll do that, yeah,” Scorpius agreed tiredly. It was only half eight and already he was anxious about the day.

“Have you got a fucking problem with me, mate?” Albus snapped unexpectedly.

Scorpius looked up in surprise. “I’ve said all of two words to you.”

“Yeah, and you’re already-” Albus broke off, interrupted by raucous cries from outdoors. “What’s that?”

Scorpius shrugged, looking nervously around for his dad. There weren’t supposed to be people within the estate limits. If there were, the protective enchantments must have been compromised. He dashed down stairs, closely trailed by Albus. In his haste to find his father, he almost smacked directly into his grandfather.

“Grandfather! I’m sorry.” Scorpius bowed his head. “I was looking for my dad. Do you know what’s going on?”

Lucius sneered. “It seems you two have become quite famous. I’d be shocked if I didn’t know the Potters.”

“Did my family do this?” Albus asked. “Er- sir?” he squeaked, breaking under Lucius’ glare.

“Perhaps your father’s own clout is wearing thin.” Lucius raised an eyebrow in derision. “And such a talent does make up for the shame of being a Slytherin, doesn’t it just?”

“Erm… I…” Albus looked absolutely terrified.

“People are gathered outside our doors, Lucius!” Narcissa appeared around a corner, walking at an old woman’s pace to stand behind her husband. “They want to speak to our grandson and the Potter child.” She seemed to notice Albus for the first time only after addressing him as such. “Hello.” She scanned him carefully with her pale blue eyes. “Why are we harboring the half-blood as well? Do we really want to take on the risk of having an omniscient pair of children in our home?”

Albus twitched angrily, but seemed able to bite his tongue. Scorpius wondered if he was afraid or just being polite.

“Where’s Father?” Scorpius tried to change the subject as he slowly came to realize that maybe his grandparents wouldn’t set aside old prejudices for manner’s sake like he’d hoped.

“Contending with the situation,” Lucius replied vaguely. “Hopefully preventing war.”

“War?” Albus spoke out. “Really? Is that- is that a real risk?”

Narcissa’s tone turned gentler. “Never in history has an opportunity arisen to attain maximum information. Do you understand what this could potentially mean?”

Horrible understanding washed over Scorpius, while Albus still looked confused. “You could take over the world.”

“Or we could,” Albus seemed to suddenly get it. “We’re a danger to the planet.” He went pale. “I’d want us dead if I was them.”

“That is the concern.”

“How do we escape?” Scorpius turned to Albus suddenly, an idea striking him. “Can you see a way?”

Indeed, Albus’ pupils dilated in their tell-tale way. “It’s dark. I see a dark room with no windows.” He shivered. “I don’t want to go there.”

Scorpius nodded, agreeing. “Okay. Okay. So we don’t want to hide. Alright, then.” He squared his shoulders. “How do we fight?”

Albus’ pupils dilated, and he gasped at whatever he saw before him. A battle? A war? A failure? “An invasion from the light,” he muttered weakly. “We’ve just run out of friends.”

Scorpius just barely managed to slow his fall as Albus tumbled to the ground, overloaded.

Lucius studied Albus’ unconscious body, seeming deep in thought. “We may need to call upon some allies. Containing and concealing power such as this requires the old ways.” He nodded to Narcissa. “This is what our side stood for. This is how we can rise again.”

“Using our grandson?” Narcissa looked horrified.

_ “Coronating  _ our grandson,” Lucius corrected. “We Wizards can finally step out of the shadows, knowing that we will be safe and empowered.”

Scorpius looked between his grandparents warily. “What are we doing?” He didn’t like being talked about as if he weren’t there.

Narcissa smiled at her husband, then turned to Scorpius. “Returning from darkness, my child. At last.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter- working on the ins and outs of this story now. Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Honesty

Albus awoke to the sound of his dad yelling. Groggily, he opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He was on a sofa in the Malfoy’s parlor, cautiously tucked under a blanket and propped up by pillows. He sighed, a bit sick of waking up places he hadn’t fallen asleep. He sat up gingerly and Scorpius quickly dashed across the room to sit next to him.

“So glad you’re up, they won’t leave me alone.”

“How d’you mean?” Albus glanced between his and Scorpius’ fathers, who seemed far too busy arguing with each other to pay any attention to them.

_ “You  _ consented to sending him here, if I might recall,” Draco was looking at Harry with utter annoyance. “A solution that I agree with. They’re well protected here. We have every viable protection placed over this building.

“I’m not concerned about your house, I’m concerned about the swarms of people  _ outside  _ your house and what exactly we’re going to do about them! They obviously knew exactly where to find us.” Harry retorted.

“Like I said, they’re of no concern.”

“Like hell they’re not! How are we supposed to ever let our children out of here?” Harry seemed to notice Albus was awake. “Albus, how are you feeling?”

“Alright…” Albus answered cautiously. “What’s going on?”

“We’re trying to decide where the best place for you is.” Harry narrowed his eyes accusingly at Draco. “I think a building we could place under a Fidelius charm would be best.”

“This place can’t because it’s been under watch by the government since the war,” Scorpius explained. “Alerts would go up instantly if we tried.”

Draco cleared his throat. “However, you would not be more well accommodated than in this house. Anywhere else you go would not have private staff to take care of you, which is something you both desperately need right now.” He inclined his head towards Harry. “Our sons are sick. We need to be able to provide for them.”

“I don’t care where they are so long as they’re safe!” Harry stood his ground.

Draco scoffed. “Of course you’d say that. That was the sole tenet under which you were raised.”

“Have you got something to say?” Harry took a threatening step towards him.

“Just that it doesn’t shock me you’d name your son after him.” Draco folded his arms. “Albus Dumbledore never did care about your well being, did he? Not so long as he could keep his golden boy  _ safe. _ I guess you did learn something from those Muggles you lived with.”

Harry looked to Albus as if for support. Albus just shook his head covertly, not wanting to get involved.

Just at that moment there was a cacophonous disturbance from just outside the door and in strode Lucius and Narcissa looking thoroughly displeased.

“We’ve gotten rid of them,” Narcissa announced primly and found a seat in the lounge.

“You’ve what?” Harry looked at her doubtfully.

Narcissa narrowed her eyes. “We’ve gotten rid of them, Mr. Potter, do try to focus that unyieldingly thick head of yours. They have been dealt with.”

“All the reporters? All the political interest groups? All the crowds of people, they’ve just gone?” Harry didn’t sound like he quite believed her.

“No, they haven’t  _ just gone,  _ stupid child, I said we’ve gotten rid of them.” Narcissa cast a withering, conspiratorial glance at Albus, who wasn’t totally sure whose side he was supposed to be on.

“What’s that supposed to mean, then?” Harry squared his shoulders.

Narcissa cast another look to Albus that clearly said  _ what an idiot your father is, no? We know better. _

“Erm… Could I just ask- what exactly is going on?” Albus was beginning to develop a migraine.

Narcissa smiled sweetly at him. “Of course, dear. You see, in the past few hours, news of your gift has spread among some very important people. As you can imagine, the idea that a real oracle in our time might exist changes the game somewhat. Nobody knows quite how to treat you, nor is there any real protocol for this kind of a situation. As such, many visionaries of their fields are debating the ethical dilemma that we’re faced with. That is to say whether you are owed to the world and thus shall be used as political capital in the never ending power struggle between great forces, or whether the world is owed to you and thus is yours to control. With absolute power there is no in between.”

The rather frank way in which she described the situation almost made Albus feel better about it. At least she was treating him like an adult, not just debating over what to do with him as if he wasn’t in the room which is what Draco and Harry appeared to be doing. “I see.” Albus said softly, letting the severity sink in. “So this argument is over where Scorpius and I are meant to be hiding? Is that what we’re doing?”

Narcissa huffed. “Now I really think the time for such petty arguments has gone. Draco?” She nodded knowingly at her son. “Our best course of action is to take control of the situation from within.” She smiled gently at Albus, seemingly trying to encourage him. “Don’t you want the world, my son?”

“I…” Albus felt numb. Is that what it would really come to? “I don’t know.”

“We have to approach with caution,” Lucius spoke up from a corner. “The boys will be safest here under ministry surveillance until we see which way the wind is blowing.” He inclined his head briefly at Harry. “Or do you not expect your Muggleborn sister-in-law to play fairly? I wouldn’t blame you not to trust politicians at this point, but to put your son’s life at stake for principals sake seems a bit foolhardy.”

Predictably, Harry rose to the bait. Albus shook his head in quiet disappointment. People like his dad were so easy to manipulate. “Hermione’s ethical standards have never been anyone’s concern! I don’t expect the  _ Malfoys  _ to play fairly, the Ministry isn’t my complaint.”

“And yet you’re perfectly willing to lock your son away from the ministry’s eyes and let only  _ the Malfoys  _ know where he is?” Lucius raised an eyebrow in mock amusement. “Consider your options, but Scorpius is staying here.”

Scorpius sat up straighter. “What?!” He flinched a little under everyone’s sudden attention. “I’d prefer to stay with Albus.”

“Obviously we’d prefer it too.” Lucius looked at Harry inquisitively. “That depends on Mr. Potter, here.”

A twinge of spite flared in Albus’ chest. “No, it depends on me.” He scowled at Lucius and Harry in turn. “I’m the one it’s affecting, and I’m the one who can see the future anyway.” He crossed his arms briefly, felt a bit childish, and uncrossed them. “I’m not getting locked up alone. It was bad enough in quarantine being so bored, I can’t imagine solitary confinement.”

“Albus-” Harry tried to plead.

“No, I’m staying here. I won’t go alone.” He edged a bit closer to Scorpius as if to prove a point. “We’re staying together. It’s non-negotiable.”

Harry looked like he wanted to argue, but thought better of it. Albus could practically see him swallow his words and count slowly to ten. Then, a strange confused look came over his face. “What do you mean, you got rid of them?” He turned back to Narcissa. “How do you get rid of a crowd of people like that?”

Narcissa quirked a smile. “You’d be amazed what you can do with the Ministry on your side.” She gestured at the door. “You’re keeping the Minister waiting, by the way. She’s here to set up the security for the boys level. The second one, just up the stairs.”

Albus almost laughed. That was a pretty daring move to invite the Ministry before Harry had actually agreed.

“She’s also brought along a parcel from your grandmother, Albus dear.” Narcissa smiled at him. “I’m sorry the rest of your family weren’t able to come.”

Albus shrugged. “Are we done, then?”

“Try to get some rest, dear.” Narcissa nodded. “We’ll let you know when it’s safe to go in the gardens.”

Albus nudged Scorpius. “Let’s go, then. Have you eaten yet? I’m starved.”

Scorpius looked between all of his relatives, seeming a bit confused. “Ah… Alright.”

Albus stood and lead the way out of the parlor, itching to get out of his dad’s line of sight. He didn’t want to deal with whatever temper-tantrum he was surely brewing.

“It was cool of you to stick with me,” Scorpius piped up a moment after the doors closed behind them in the hall. “I can’t imagine being stuck here again.”

Albus frowned. “How d’you mean?”

“Er- well…” Scorpius looked surprised. “Well it’s been a while. It was horribly lonely before, and I imagine it will only be worse going back.”

“No, how d’you mean  _ again?”  _ Albus clarified. “As in you’ve been in this situation before?”

Scorpius looked a little hurt. “Well, yeah. For the first eleven years of my life. I’ve told you. I wasn’t really allowed outside the fence. People thought I was Voldemort’s kid, remember?”

Still, it was fair news to Albus that Scorpius hadn’t been allowed outside. “I assumed you had friends.”

Scorpius just shook his head. “Not really. You were pretty much the first person my age that I ever knew.”

“Really?”

“Yes!” Scorpius shifted his weight awkwardly. “I’ve told you this.”

Albus tilted his head, considering. “Is that why you talk like that?”

“What? Like what?”

“Like a posh old man.”

“I don’t!”

“Yes you do.” Albus smirked. “Is it because you only talked to old Purebloods?”

“That’s absurd.”

_ “That’s absurd,”  _ Albus mocked. “Come on, mate, you know I’m right.”

“Impertinence.”

“Now you’re being purposefully stodgy,” Albus teased.

“I’ve told you this before, Albus, you don’t listen.” He seemed genuinely agitated, which sobered Albus up a bit.

Albus tried to console him, feeling a bit guilty. “Sorry, mate, I really didn’t mean to… Ah...”

Scorpius’ pupils dilated and Albus froze.

“Er… what are you doing?” Albus prodded him gently. “I didn’t ask anything.”

Scorpius’ eyes welled with tears. “I’m looking back on my own.”

“You can do that?” Albus momentarily forgot the sensitive situation on his hands. “Really?”

Scorpius nodded. “I’ve been practicing.”

“Practicing?” Albus hadn’t heard him say anything. Practicing… Albus hadn’t considered practicing. “What are you seeing?”

“All the times I tried to talk to you and you didn’t listen.”

“Oi, wait a minute now-”

“Do you not understand how surreal this is for me?” Scorpius looked at him, his eyes dark and wild. “For years before school I was alone in a library with nothing else to do and nobody to talk to. I read all those books about your father, then I read all the books about you and your siblings as well. I grew up knowing your name, hearing news about you with every morning paper, and basically obsessing over every detail of your life. Then of course I meet you and that’s all kinds of weird, but then you’re sorted into my house! You became my roommate! We’re friends! Now I’m back locked within the estates potentially forever, but you’re with me. And with this newfound clairvoyance, I’m reading your history all over again in real detail.” He sighed. “Life is round, I’m beginning to think.”

“Life is round?” Albus tried awkwardly to laugh.  _ “That’s  _ absurd.”

Scorpius just looked at him sadly. “I know way too much.”

A chill ran down Albus’ spine at that. “Yeah?”

“Doesn’t it just suit me?” The corner of Scorpius’ mouth twitched in almost a smile. “I always did like to read. Now I can read everybody’s stories. Right out of their lives.” His voice took on a hint of mania. “Pretty bleak, Albus.”

“Whoa, mate.” Albus held up his hands like he was trying to calm a spooked horse. “You’re gonna be fine, alright? Just… just focus on the good. Find a nice story, yeah?”

Scorpius looked lost in his own head. “People are bastards…”

Albus didn’t liked the expression on Scorpius’ face. He looked so overwhelmed. “Think about… Er…” He tried to come up with a happy memory. “Think about…”

Scorpius was looking at him strangely.

“What?” Albus asked uncomfortably, getting the strange sensation that his mind was being read.

A light blush crept over the bridge of Scorpius’ nose. “I was right.”

“Eh?”

“It is quite intimate, knowing everything about each other.” His pupils returned to normal size and he blinked in reality. “Bit of a breach of privacy, really.” He laughed. “Really does change things, doesn’t it? It has to. I never realized how much we actually lie. We’re going to have to be very honest with each other, I’m afraid.”

That had sort of a foreboding feeling to it. “Honest how?”

Scorpius shook his head. “Dunno. Never done this before.”

Albus tensed. “That’s not really fair I don’t have the same insight into your life, then.”

Scorpius’ eyes lit up. “I have an idea.”

“Yeah?”

“Veritaserum.”

 

*******

 

Holding the small bottle of the powerful potion in his hand, Scorpius’ every instinct told him not to drink it. Though indistinguishable from water in his mouth, Scorpius’ entire body couldn’t help but react negatively just on the knowledge of what he was about to do. Still, it was his idea and it was only right. The two arranged themselves comfortably on the bed in Scorpius’ room and prepared to take their poison. He swallowed with difficulty.

Albus did the same.

Suddenly, it was like the back of his head expanded into eternity, and a strange glow of contentment came over him.

Albus seemed to be feeling something similar due to the expression of pure shock on his face.

Scorpius struggled to find the neurons in his brain responsible for speaking. “Go ahead.”

Albus looked like he might cry. “Is this what empathy feels like?”

“What?” Scorpius would have laughed, but he looked serious.

Albus’ hands were shaking violently. “What’s free will? It’s all just patterns and probability. Are we not allowed to choose? Everything already exists.”

Scorpius had never taken Veritaserum before, but he was fairly certain it wasn’t supposed to have that sort of effect on people. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m omniscient!” Albus cried. “What kind of hell is this going to be, mate? What are we going to do?”

“Well, that’s  _ your  _ field.” Scorpius almost teased. “What  _ are  _ we going to do?”

“How am I supposed to talk to anybody anymore?” He pulled at his hair. “Nothing’s going to be a surprise ever again!”

He looked panicked. Scorpius tried to calm him down. “It’s not as bad as that. You don’t see  _ everything,  _ do you?”

Albus laughed. “Try me! Blimey, my mind’s right open. You’re right, I see too much.”

Scorpius figured he’d give it a shot. “How do we fix this, Albus? What do we do now?”

Albus’ eyes clouded over. “Life  _ is  _ round. And everything interlocks. We need to never speak to anybody ever again.”

“So what do we do?”

Albus hesitated, looking Scorpius straight in the eye. “We need to lock ourselves inside of ourselves. We need to shut off from the world entirely.”

Scorpius felt like he’d been drenched in ice water. “But-”

“Only ever talk to me again,” Albus insisted. “We’re done with the world. Off. Before it’s too late, we need to shut down.”

Is this what had happened to those Oracles throughout history who were said to be shells? Had it possibly been intentional?

Albus reached out suddenly and grabbed Scorpius by the arm. “We’re staying here, we’re denying the world their claim over us, and we’re locking ourselves in our own mind together. Not solitary. We can’t let them in, Scorpius, understand? We can’t let them in.”

Scorpius wasn’t totally sure he  _ did  _ understand, but he felt like he got the idea.

“We’re going to fall in love,” Albus’ eyes widened suddenly. “Did you know that? With each other.”

Scorpius just sat numbly. “Er…”

“I really don’t care what you think, I’m just telling you it’s true.” Albus grinned broadly. “It’s going to happen, I’m telling you. Every aspect of our lives are going to change around each other, and in the end I’m going to be in love with you.”

Scorpius nodded mutely. He cleared his throat. “In the end?”

“Mhm.” Albus’ eyes flicked back and forth, watching something invisible to Scorpius.

Right. Through all the insanity, Scorpius surprised himself by feeling a little let down.

_ I’m disappointed. Wow. What a startling confession and I’m thinking why doesn’t it happen sooner? _

“I think we should rest,” Scorpius gasped. He felt like the very fabric of his brain was being violently shook. “I think-”

Albus’ eyelids were already drooping. He curled up where he sat and passed out almost immediately.

“Oh. Well, then. Yes.” Scorpius just looked at him lying there. “Fine.” He reached out tentatively and brushed Albus’ hair out of his face. “This is a whole new book, I think. New rules.” He yawned and lay down next to Albus, oppressive exhaustion nearly crushing his lungs flat. “I have a feeling this is going to be terribly embarrassing for both of us.”

Slowly, the world slipped away, and the weights on Scorpius’ skull dissipated until he was floating through the sky.

Then, blissfully, his mind was wiped clean and he fell deeply asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this the reverse of dramatic irony? Where the character knows the future, but you don't?


	6. Learning

The first week Albus spent at the Malfoy’s was interesting though uncomfortable. The morning after taking Veritaserum, Albus and Scorpius woke up in the same bed with all of their clothes including their shoes still on. That was probably the most interesting morning of the entire week, and it’s where all the discomfort began. Since taking Veritaserum, Albus’ mind had opened quite significantly. He was able to somewhat control his visions, and practice was making him better. Scorpius was still bounds ahead, though, so Albus’ ego was kept in neat check. Interesting and uncomfortable was the way knowing things was affecting the way he and Scorpius behaved around each other. They didn’t speak much, mostly because they didn’t have to. Recounting stories was no longer meaningful on Albus’ part since Scorpius already knew them all. Coordinating plans was rather pointless on Scorpius’ part, since Albus was already privy to their immediate future. Within a week, the vast majority of communication between the two of them was reduced to simple head nods to convey that they both knew what was going on- not that there was much to explain. Their daily routine consisted of rigorous training in both the theory and application of magic, sitting down for meals to which Albus’ family were always in attendance, and finding ways to occupy their time in the gardens or libraries of which the manor boasted many.

Albus and Scorpius were granted highly restricted access to other people. Nobody was allowed to ask them any questions, and so anyone in contact with them had to be observed by a neutral party. That’s the reason the Potters were always around for lunch and dinner; it’s the only time Albus and Scorpius were around the entire Malfoy family. Lessons were done in isolation as well. In the mornings, their daily work would be prescribed via message board and lacked any sort of grading system. That meant the boys were free to study as they saw fit, a system that suited Albus nicely.

In terms of academics, Scorpius took a more well-rounded approach by spending relatively equal (or at least equitable) amounts of time on each subject. Albus, on the other hand, selected the topics that interested him and dove in head-first. It was a pretty thrilling way to learn, beating Hogwarts by miles.

There was another reason they weren’t speaking very much, and that’s where the discomfort came in. On the morning after taking Veritaserum, Albus had been forced to come to terms with everything he’d said and learned. For the first time in his life, Albus was confronted with the reality of “soul mates.” The idea that he was destined to fall in love with his best friend was shocking to say the least. Plus, once both he and Scorpius  _ knew  _ it was going to happen, they were faced with a strange conundrum: what to do about it?

About a week after Veritaserum, Albus was beginning to settle down. Things felt more routine, and he was adjusting to his surroundings as best he could. He was sitting in Scorpius’ favorite library reading about wandlore (his new favorite subject) when the words on the page ceased making sense. His focus was drifting elsewhere as he became almost hyper-aware of Scorpius’ presence next to him.

_ Don’t look up,  _ he warned himself.  _ Just act like nothing’s changed and maybe this will all be okay.  _ He drummed his wand against his leg in agitation.  _ At least don’t freak him out by making him think you’re staring at him or something. Just don’t look like a creep.  _ He huffed, annoyed. He already  _ was  _ a creep. As embarrassed at he was to remember it, Scorpius had been more than a little involved in one of his first wet dreams. It was second year and he’d woken up suddenly, a wave of terror rushing over him as he struggled to understand what had just happened. He had lain awake in bed all night after that, nearly crying in his desperate attempt to rationalize to himself why it didn’t mean anything. At the time, he’d done a pretty good job of convincing himself so, and had all but forgotten the whole thing until recently.

Nervously, Albus wondered if Scorpius could see the content of his past dreams.

Another incident he remembered with chagrin was during one of Slytherin’s end-of-term parties. He’d been fifteen, very drunk, and very stupid. He didn’t remember the entirety of that night, but he knew that at some point he’d wound up sitting in front of the fire with his shirt and shoes long missing, staring into the flames in a dead stupor. Scorpius had come to return his clothes and take him upstairs, and this small act of kindness made Albus incredibly emotional. He remembered convincing Scorpius to sit with him, which quickly turned into Albus holding the poor kid in a tight embrace as he babbled about how Scorpius was his “favorite person,” and how they should both “stop giving a fuck about anyone else,” which looking back had been a pretty major confession of feelings. At the time, Albus had again rationalized the whole thing to himself by saying that all he’d really meant was that they should stop caring what other people  _ think  _ of them, when more honestly he’d really wanted  _ Scorpius _ to stop thinking about other people, period.

Albus was reevaluating everything. It was strange to suddenly look at his life through the filter of  _ knowing.  _ It suddenly made some things seem very obvious, and definitely explained all the jokes he and Scorpius had had lobbed at them over the past six years.

“Did you want to call it a day?”

“Huh?” Albus was jolted from his introspection suddenly.

“Just that you’ve been staring into space for the past minute and that’s the same page you were on five minutes ago.” Scorpius was looking at him through wide, innocent eyes that were very hard to look directly into.

“Oh. Er- yeah, why not.” Albus closed his book with a snap, hoping the noise would clear his head somewhat. It just sort of sounded aggressive.

Scorpius looked at the door.

Albus shook his head. They wouldn’t be called downstairs for lunch until after the Potters arrived, and they would announce themselves by James loudly swearing as he tripped over a wandering shrub in the garden, which would then prompt Ginny to lecture him about manners while Harry laughed. Albus figured he’d hear it through the window.

“So…”  _ What to do _ was the implied message.

Albus shrugged. “Did they?”  _ Clear the people from the front garden? _ He looked at the door.

Scorpius thought about it. “No. But nobody’s been able to get as far as the pond if you’d like.”

Albus shook his head.  _ Not safe. People will notice we’re there. _

“Ah. Too bad, then,” Scorpius lamented.

“Yeah.”

“Is this going to be forever, d’you think?” Scorpius asked suddenly.

“Eh?”

“This- living the way we are. Are we ever going to go somewhere else? Or… or are we just destined to be locked up together like this for the rest of our lives?”

The universe shook Albus’ brain vigorously, but nothing came of it. “I don’t know.” The question pressed against his mind, and he struggled to make sense of the strange sensation. “I don’t know why I don’t know.”

“Maybe-” Scorpius broke off suddenly, shaking his head.

“What?”

“I just- maybe… I dunno. Maybe you can only see things that… er, well… maybe if something would change from you knowing it, you can’t see it? Maybe you can only see things that happen regardless of your foreknowledge.”

Maybe. Albus nodded, thinking about it. “You’d think I’d have the ability to change things I don’t like, then.”

Scorpius was quiet for a long moment. “You’ve seen things you don’t like?”

Albus was instantly regretful of his careless choice of phrasing. “Er- well, not so to speak- I… I only meant that…” He sighed. “This is getting frustrating.”

“We were raised in such a culture of formalities, it is strange to have to eschew all of that now,” Scorpius agreed. “We said we’d be honest, right? I think that means more than just not lying. We need to be upfront about… all of this.” He sighed. “I can’t even be direct when talking about being direct. This is difficult.”

“We’re British.”

“To a fault.”

Albus chewed on his lip, trying to think of something to say, something to do, just… something. He nodded, steeling himself before holding out his hand.

Scorpius just stared. “What?”

Albus shrugged, trying to look nonchalant against the pink flush that was creeping over his nose. “Let’s go slow.”

Scorpius stared at Albus’ outstretched hand for a long moment before he seemed to realize what he was being told. “Oh! Oh. Okay.” Hesitantly, he reached out and entwined his fingers with Albus’.

Something in Albus’ stomach lurched with excitement. He stared at their hands, trying to still his nervous energy. It was strange. It felt strange. Like it was something they shouldn’t be doing. Like they might get in trouble.

“Should we-” Scorpius began, but was cut off by James loudly swearing out in the garden.

“Fuck! Shit! What the fuck was that?!”

“Time for lunch.” Albus dropped Scorpius’ hand and stood.

“Okay.” Scorpius followed him out of the library and down the stairs.

Later, Albus figured, they’d work things out.

 

*******

 

“Looking at something?” Scorpius climbed onto his bed after finishing a shower. Albus was sitting there in his pajamas, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

Albus nodded. “You.”

Scorpius’ heart missed a beat. “Oh?”

“In the future.” Albus rubbed his palms across his face. “Alright.” He laid down on his back above the blankets and stared at the ceiling.

“Did you actually want to sleep  _ in  _ the bed or just  _ on  _ it?” Scorpius teased lightly.

Albus squirmed until he was under the covers. “I’m glad your dad’s not allowed on this floor.”

“Yeah…” That strangely hurt, even though he knew what Albus meant. It was awful to have him be so reluctant about the whole thing. Scorpius’ self-esteem was taking a beating. He crawled under the covers too and extinguished the lights with a flick of his wand.

“Scorpius, how do you feel about me?” Albus blurted out almost as soon as the lights went off.

A little caught off guard, Scorpius hesitated. “Er… well…”

“Because I want us to be okay with each other, and when you think about it there’s very little at risk here,” Albus began to ramble before Scorpius could answer. “Because no matter what, we’re going to wind up together. I know that like I know the sun will rise in the morning, it’s strange. Knowing what’s going to happen before this had a chance to develop naturally is really confusing. I want to figure this out.”

“Well, we are sleeping in the same bed,” Scorpius said in a half-hearted attempt to avoid answering.

After a moment’s hesitation Albus whispered, “I think I might have feelings for you.” His voice was small and scared.

“I…” Scorpius’ chest felt tight. “Yeah, me too.”

Albus made a sort of strangled noise. “Shit. What am I going to do?”

Scorpius took his hand under the sheets. “It’ll be okay.”

Albus squeezed his hand tightly. “Let’s not tell our parents, alright? At least not yet.”

“Agreed,” Scorpius nodded.

Albus curled up a little closer to him. “I can’t imagine they’d be pleased. For a number of reasons.”

Scorpius nodded again into the dark, debating whether or not to- “Can I kiss you goodnight?”

After a terrifyingly long moment, Albus replied. “Yeah.”

Hesitantly, they found each other in the dim. Curled up around pillows and each other, they pressed their lips together lightly.

“Goodnight,” Albus whispered after pulling away.

Scorpius forgot how to speak for a moment. “E- Oh, goodnight.” Scorpius lay with his eyes open, suddenly not sleepy at all.


	7. Truancy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the rating to explicit for this chapter, so if you're not into that skip at the asterisks and I'll explain in the end notes.

It struck Albus suddenly as he and Scorpius sat down to dinner with their families: love is not some magical, elusive thing that strikes suddenly and leaves you with no doubt in your mind. It’s a slow permeation of your thoughts, a gentle nudge towards a person that feels natural and easy. It’s not burning passion or obsessive lust.

He was looking for the wrong thing.

His whole life, he’d assumed that someday he’d just be “struck,” and that would be that. In fact, he had probably been in love for a very long time without noticing. Because it’s just so very easy. It’s subtle, yet powerful. Like water slowly eroding a cliff.

He sat thinking all of this to himself as he tuned out his parents’ idle chatter. He snapped back to attention, however, when the discussion turned to the politics of his and Scorpius’ situation.

“They’re holding an international conference between the heads of every Wizarding government in Europe, Asia, and the Americas as well as several African countries,” Draco announced. “It’s regarding the new code of ethics being developed for fair treatment of Divining Magics. I suggest that you attend,” he addressed Harry. “Since our sons cannot.”

“Oh, er… yeah, that sounds important.” Harry looked to Ginny. “Did you want to do that?”

“I would have hoped that we’d be required to attend,” Ginny mused. “Since it’s our sons lives that are at stake.”

“They strongly encourage us to participate, yes.” Draco nodded. “Although they’re not going to rely on our testimonies.” He turned to Scorpius and Albus. “You should both compose an essay describing your feelings and preferences towards this situation. How you would prefer things be managed.”

Scorpius nodded. “I just want to be left alone, mostly.”

“Well, I hope that’s a possibility,” Draco said darkly. “Albus? Any words?”

Albus considered. “I guess… so long as we’re not separated I’m fine. I’d like to not be some… ward of the military. I’d prefer just to continue with life as usual.”

“That may be too tall of an order,” Draco said sadly. “I’m afraid you’re both going to be utilized in some way, whether it be by the military or otherwise. My hope is that they allow you to keep your voices.”

That caught Albus and he sat up a little straighter. “What?”

“There’s a possibility that the government will decide that you’re all around too dangerous to remain active. Best case scenario if that happens, they remove your ability to speak. Worst case-”

“They’re not going to lock us up, are they?” Scorpius interrupted nervously.

“That’s not the worst case, but it’s a possibility. Worst case, they remove the threat entirely.”

Albus gaped. “You don’t mean kill us?!”

“It’s in the cards,” Draco replied diplomatically. “Of course, I’d do everything possible to prevent that.” He looked away, his voice growing tight. “But that may be a fight we face.”

The idea that he would someday die was not a thought Albus liked to ruminate on. He’d had a couple of close calls over his seventeen years, but he’d never really  _ thought  _ he might die. It simply hadn’t occurred to him. Now, the whole world was potentially looking at him as a target, and running from everyone wasn’t a possibility. He didn’t want to die. He really really didn’t. Was there a real chance?

“We could give false prophecies,” Scorpius suggested. “We could tell them what they want to hear in order to stay safe.”

“Can you?” James spoke up for the first time in a while. “Can you lie?”

Scorpius made a face. “I- huh. Actually, I’m not sure. We do sort of just blurt things out, don’t we?”

“I don’t really realize I’m speaking until I’ve finished,” Albus mused. “You’re right, lying might not be possible. But it’s not like we see everything, even. You know, it is pretty hard to control.”

“Oh!” Scorpius squirmed in his seat. “That reminds me! I know what vapors the Oracle of Delphi used to have her visions. It was a precursor to Veritaserum. That’s why-”

“Everything sort of happened at once.” Albus nodded. “I could see all of the future.”

“When did you take Veritaserum?” Ginny asked sharply. “We have no idea what sort of effect psychoactive potions might have on you. You shouldn’t just take things.”

James laughed. “That’s his forte.”

“What was that?” Harry looked at James sternly.

James shrank a little in his chair. “Ah- nothing. Just kidding.” He mouthed the word  _ sorry  _ at Albus.

“We took it the other day, we were trying to get used to knowing stuff,” Albus explained superficially, hoping to distract them all from what James had said. “We ended up able to see a whole lot more than normal, but it knocked me right out so I’m not sure how useful it could be.”

“That is probably information we should keep to ourselves,” Draco said. “The less they know, the better.”

“Agreed.” Scorpius nodded. “Anything they know they could use against us.” He turned to Albus. “Don’t you think? Or is there something we need to say?”

Without warning, everything shifted. Albus’ eyes grew wide as he stopped being able to tell the difference between himself and the world around him. “They know we’re anterograde and retrograde, they’re going to want us apart. We need to tell them we’re more powerful than we are, we need them scared away. They want Scorpius silenced because he knows historical and government secrets. They want me locked up because I’m a useful tool. We need to tell them we know enough to destroy them all.”

Reality snapped back into place and Scorpius looked upset. “I don’t want to be a dictator.”

Albus struggled to locate his voice. “That or they cut off your tongue and hands.”

“No way!” Scorpius looked aghast. “Would they?”

“Yeah.” Albus blinked rapidly, trying to clear the future from his eyes. “They would.”

“That’s sick!” Scorpius clutched his stomach, a bit pale. “Why such extremes?”

Albus shrugged. “All I know is what I saw, and that’s on their minds.”

Scorpius looked at his hands like he was imagining them gone. “No.” His breathing grew uneven. “No way.” His hands started shaking.

Albus felt bad for him. “We don’t have to let it happen.”

Scorpius was hyperventilating. “That’s… not…”

Albus glanced quickly around the room. “Are we done with dinner? Maybe let’s go.”

“We still need to discuss-” Harry began.

“Later,” Albus insisted, eyes fixed on Scorpius. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” He stood and guided Scorpius to do the same. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

Scorpius followed wordlessly, seeming on the verge of tears. Once upstairs and behind the magical barrier installed by the Ministry, he pulled Albus into a tight hug. “This isn’t good,” he sobbed. “I don’t know what to do.”

Albus held him awkwardly, torn between the desire to help and the fear of seeming too eager. He still wasn’t sure how to treat their new relationship. “We’ll figure it out.”

Scorpius pulled back enough to look him in the eyes. “Will we?”

Albus paused briefly, waiting for a vision. When nothing happened, “I don’t know. I hope so.”

Something strange happened in Scorpius’ eyes. “I’m not getting separated from you.”

“Yeah, I- I don’t want that either.”

“We should run away.”

“What? You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not.” He smiled. “Let’s run away. Let nobody know where we’re going, not even our parents. Let’s disappear.”

Albus had to take a moment before he could respond. “Where?”

“I don’t know.” Scorpius’ smile widened. “Anywhere. Everywhere.”

Albus swallowed roughly. “When?”

“Tonight. The sooner the better.”

Strangely enough, fear did not consume Albus’ heart. Instead, he was filled with a deep love that shook him to his core. “Okay.”

“Okay.” Scorpius searched his eyes for a moment before leaning in and kissing him firmly.

Somehow not the least bit shocked, Albus kissed him back. For a long moment they stood stuck together like that, feeling. Then, Albus moved to deepen the kiss, which Scorpius responded to gladly. It felt safe and right. Warm and comforting. Not scary, not wrong, but like they should have done it sooner.

Ah- that’s it. Hedonism. The philosophy of fuck it. Suddenly, Albus understood. If it feels good, it is good, and nobody should tell him otherwise. Right? Right. Seemed right. Something burned low in Albus’ gut, encouraging him to continue. He parted his lips and drew Scorpius closer by the waist. Lust like he’d never known surged through him.  _ This is what I want,  _ he thought to himself.  _ This is what I like. I can’t believe I never knew.  _ All those years of thinking sex and dating wasn’t really that great, and he finally understood.  _ I was looking in the wrong place. _

“Let’s go,” Scorpius whispered, pulling away. “This is fun, but we need to get out now before the gates lock.” He dragged Albus by the wrist towards his bedroom. “You’re still mostly packed, right? Let me just grab some stuff and we can escape out the back.”

Albus just nodded, following blindly along.

Scorpius withdrew a large book bag from his closet and started tossing things in. “Clothes, money, and basic supplies. Oh-” he stopped suddenly. “We’re really famous.”

“Mhm.”

“We need to convert into Muggle money.” He opened his dresser and withdrew his wallet. “Is it called Euros?”

“Pounds in England.”

“Okay. Although, we should probably leave England.” He hummed to himself as he tossed various items of clothing hastily into his bag. “But for tonight we can stay.”

“Okay.” Albus watched Scorpius dash about excitedly, and he smiled.

In no time, Scorpius had filled up, zipped, and tossed his bag over his shoulder. “Alright, let’s grab your stuff and leave.” He bounced on the balls of his feet. “You certain?”

“If you are.”

Scorpius stepped up close to him. “I don’t want to be separated from you. That’s all.”

Albus’ heart melted. “Then let’s go.”

 

*******

 

The moment they disapparated from outside the Malfoy Estates, Scorpius felt a loss of identity. Not doubt- he didn’t want to return, but… instantly his world was different. In the Muggle world. In the streets alone with Albus.  _ With  _ Albus. It seemed every label he’d ascribed to himself was suddenly different.

Maybe that’s what it was to be an adult.

After stopping momentarily at a Wizard-Muggle money conversion booth, they appeared on a dark street in Leeds just outside of a rundown looking bar. He took Albus’ hand nervously.

“We should find a hotel,” Albus suggested. He looked around, confused. “How do you know this place? Why are we here?”

Scorpius shrugged. “I came here once with my mum and got lost. I wound up here where a nice lady found me and looked after me until my mum showed up.” He pointed down the street. “There’s a hotel just down there. I remember it.” They walked hand-in-hand down the road together, keeping a nervous eye out at corners.

The inside of the hotel was warm. Scorpius relaxed a bit as Albus took control and requested them a room at the maitre d’s desk.

“We need to take the lift,” Albus explained quietly as he handed Scorpius a thin, plastic rectangle. “Have you done that before?”

Scorpius shook his head nervously. “Is it difficult?”

“No, not at all. Just wondering how surprised you’re going to be.” He directed Scorpius to a metal door with arrow buttons on a panel next to it. Albus pushed the up arrow, which lit up.

Nothing then happened.

“What’s supposed to-” Scorpius began after a moment. Then, as if to answer his question, the metal door slid open to reveal a tiny room. He followed Albus inside and watched as he pressed three on a large panel of numbers. The door slid closed, and the floor began to shake slightly. A moment later, a bell chimed and the door slid open to reveal an entirely different place. “Oh, wow!” Scorpius exclaimed. “That’s pretty cool.” They stepped out of the tiny room and the door slid closed behind them.

Albus grinned at him. “Muggle stuff.” He walked down a hallway and found a door labeled 368. He stuck a plastic rectangle like Scorpius’ into a small box directly above the door handle. A light flashed green, and Albus opened the door.

“Is that a key, then?” Scorpius guessed.

“Yeah.” Albus switched on the lights in their room. A large bed sat in the middle of the space, and not much else.

Scorpius considered briefly, then cast a few basic protection charms over their room. “Just in case they notice we’re gone prematurely,” he explained.

Albus nodded in agreement. “Good idea.” He looked around. “So… what now?”

Scorpius thought about it. “Whatever we want, I guess. We don’t answer to anyone anymore.”

Albus grinned broadly. “Excellent.” He glanced at the bathroom door. “I might shower.”

Scorpius nodded, his heart thumping quickly. “Okay.”

Albus paused for a long moment, staring at the ground. When he looked up, he said decisively, “Come with me.”

Scorpius almost choked. “What?”

Albus shrugged, clearly trying to look nonchalant but failing miserably. “No more rules.”

Scorpius felt himself flush. “Oh...kay. Okay.”

Albus’ posture relaxed. “Okay.” He took Scorpius’ hand and pulled him into the small bathroom. There wasn’t much room for two people to stand. His eyes dropped to Scorpius’ waist, and he hesitantly reached out to lift the hem of Scorpius’ shirt. All the muscles in Scorpius’ stomach contracted, and he shut his eyes as he helped Albus take his shirt off. He gasped in surprise when he felt Albus’ hands along his bare sides, and he opened his eyes to meet a pair of uncertain looking green ones staring back at him.

“Is it the balance of power, maybe?” Albus muttered.

“What’s that?”

“I’m trying to figure out why I like you. As opposed to women, that is. And I thought: maybe it’s the balance of power. We’re supposed to follow the same gender rules, so there’s no divide like there is between men and women.”

Scorpius frowned. “You’re trying to figure out  _ why  _ you’re gay?”

Albus winced. “I don’t know that I’d call myself that.”

“Bi?”

Albus grimaced at that, too.

“So… You’re having trouble with the label, not what it means?”

“I guess. I dunno. I’m thinking too much.” He shook his head as if to clear the thoughts.

Knowledge struck Scorpius’ mind, and he laughed.

“What? What did you see?” Albus must’ve noticed.

“Albus Dumbledore was gay, too.”

“No way!”

“Yeah, wow.” Scorpius grinned. “Guess your name  _ does  _ suit you.”

Albus smiled. “Weird.”

The tension broken somewhat, Scorpius turned on the shower to let it get warm. He stepped out of the rest of his clothes carefully and watched Albus do the same.

_ Human,  _ Scorpius thought as he stared. He felt very human. Like he was participating in human culture somehow. Strange, but that was the dominant thought on his mind. The second thought he had was that he really wanted to get in the shower. Even standing in their own hotel room behind the locked bathroom door was too exposed. He wanted to be behind the shower curtain where the nagging, judgemental voices in his head couldn’t see them. “Let’s get in,” he said breathlessly.

Albus followed him without a word.

Warm water cascaded over his skin, and Scorpius sighed. He looked at Albus, which was either very good or a mistake, because the sight of him wet and naked affected Scorpius strongly. “Oh…” He reached out to brush the hair from Albus’ eyes. “Alright, then.” So that was that. Contentment settled in Scorpius’ heart.

Albus stepped closer to him and pressed their mouths together. Scorpius braced himself against the wall so they wouldn’t slip. Albus slid his hands around the small of Scorpius’ back, and warmth pooled between Scorpius’ legs. His mind clouded over as Albus pulled them flush together. Scorpius gasped as Albus buried his face in Scorpius’ neck, kissing gently along his jawline. It felt good. Scorpius managed to be impressed through his arousal.

Scorpius didn’t quite know what to do. He’d never actually had any sort of sexual contact with anyone before, so he tried to mimic Albus, who seemed at least confident. Anxiety prevented him from initiating anything, so he waited and let Albus take control.

A moment later, Albus pulled back. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you a virgin?”

Scorpius nodded. “Are you not?”

“No.”

Scorpius’ heart sank. “Oh. Why didn’t I know that?”

“I don’t think I ever told you.”

“No, why didn’t I  _ know  _ that?” Scorpius frowned.

Albus laughed. “I’d’ve hoped you weren’t looking.” He squinted analytically at Scorpius. “What… what exactly have you seen me do?”

Scorpius looked away, not really wanting to admit.

Albus sighed. “Alright. Come on, let’s finish showering and we’ll continue this in bed.”

“No, I-” Scorpius began to protest.

“Trust me, you’ll be happier.” Albus smiled consolingly. “I want you to be comfortable.”

Scorpius paused. “Okay.”

They finished showering in a rush and hastily dried off just enough so as to not soak the bed.

Albus guided Scorpius to lay on his back, and hovered over him, smiling. “Okay.” His eyes lost focus and his pupils dilated briefly.

Scorpius gaped. “Don’t do that!”

“What?” Albus replied innocently.

“You’re looking into the future, what are you looking at?”

Albus smirked. “You.”

Scorpius frowned. “What exactly?”

“What you like. I’m figuring you out.”

Scorpius’ jaw dropped. “You’re watching me-” he couldn’t finish the sentence. “Gods, Albus, why would you do that?!”

Albus looked confused. “I’m gonna see it in real life, eventually. I’m involved.”

“Still!”

“You’ve seen me masturbating, apparently.”

“Not on purpose!”

“Just… I’m trying to make this easy.” He closed his eyes, which didn’t do much to hide the fact he was scanning through their future sexual exploits.

Scorpius covered his face with his hands, mortified.

“Okay.” Albus opened his eyes. “Hey, don’t freak out.”

“This is really strange!”

Albus sighed. “Alright. Alright.” He sat back. “Talk to me.”

Scorpius sat up a bit. “About what?”

Albus considered for a moment, then moved to sit next to Scorpius as opposed to across from him. “What makes you feel good?”

Scorpius shook his head in amazement. “You know, for someone who is barely comfortable holding hands, you’re pretty confident when it comes to this sort of thing.”

“Hmm.” Albus nodded. “I guess sex is easier than romance for me.”

Scorpius’ chest tightened. “I think I’m the opposite.”

Albus stared at him for a long moment. “Okay.” He picked up his wand from the bedside table and pointed it as his bag. Soft music began to play. “Easy, then. Slow and easy.” He wrapped an arm around Scorpius’ shoulders and pulled him close. “Close your eyes and let me touch you.”

Scorpius nodded weakly and shut his eyes. A moment later, he felt Albus’ warm hand on his stomach. Slowly, it slid downwards until cupping him gently. Scorpius gasped and Albus kissed his cheek.

“Happy?”

“Mhm.” Scorpius nodded, his eyes still shut tight.

“Good.” Almost painfully slowly, Albus stroked him up and down, thumb brushing over the head with each pump.

It was different from touching himself. Sitting back and relinquishing control was relaxing, and the fact that it was somebody else- the fact that it was  _ Albus  _ was incredibly exciting. Scorpius’ anxiety began to subside, pushed away by hormones and arousal.

“Ngh-” Scorpius leaned heavily into Albus’ side, eyes still closed.

“That’s good, use your voice,” Albus encouraged.

Scorpius didn’t respond. He couldn’t. Making noises was so… undignified. He couldn’t bear it.

“Come on, I wanna hear you.” Albus’ voice dropped lower. “You look so fucking good.”

Scorpius’ eyes snapped open at that crude statement. He met Albus’ eyes, bright and sparkling above pink cheeks.

“You’ll feel better if you don’t hold back,” Albus insisted. “Come on, you must’ve heard our roommates dreaming. What do they sound like?”

Scorpius’ jaw dropped. Even mentioning their roommates felt incredibly disrespectful and dirty.

Albus sped up his hand as if trying to force sound out of Scorpius’ mouth.

It worked.  _ “Ah!” _

“There you go.” Albus grinned. “That’s good. A little more.” He moved to straddle Scorpius’ lap. “Nobody can hear us.”

True. Scorpius wasn’t used to being so alone. “Hah… Ahh… That’s…”

Albus moaned. “Mmm, fuck yes…” He ground down against Scorpius’ lap and held them both together, thrusting up into his hands.

The raw, animalistic sight of that was overwhelming. Scorpius gasped.  _ This is sex. We’re having sex.  _ He closed his eyes again, unable to cope with the visuals. “Albus,” he gasped as he felt himself begin to climb.

“There you go, just let go.” Albus encouraged him.

“Ah- Albus, I-” Scorpius’ whole body felt tingly. His breathing grew sharp and heavy.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Albus soothed. “Need to come?”

Scorpius nodded.

“Just let it happen. Come on, let yourself go.”

White heat stirred in Scorpius’ core, and he climbed higher and higher until he couldn’t believe he was still climbing. With a groan, he finally came as Albus praised him.

“That’s it… so good… mm, there you go. All better.”

Scorpius panted as he came down, exhausted. A moment later, he felt Albus come across his stomach as he cried out.

They sat in silence for a very long time, adjusting.

Albus was the first one to speak. “So you like me talking to you like that, then?”

Scorpius blinked open his eyes. “How do you mean?”

Albus grinned sheepishly. “I found some stuff in our future that… ah… suggested you might like coaching and praise…”

Scorpius’ eyes widened. “You’re not serious.”

“I’m an Oracle, I can’t lie. Remember?” Albus joked. “We’re gonna have fun.”

Scorpius shut his eyes tightly, embarrassment overtaking him.

“At the very least it’s a distraction, right?”

Right. Scorpius nodded, reality crushing him when he remembered what they had done. The next day, their parents would find out that they had gone, and it would break his dad’s heart. He hoped he’d never have a vision that showed him the expression on his dad’s face when he didn’t show up for breakfast. When the Potters showed up to find Albus missing. When the ministry removed the protective spells on the second floor and confirmed that they were really gone. 

“Let’s try to sleep,” Albus suggested. “We’ll be able to think better in the morning.”

“Okay,” Scorpius agreed quietly. He barely noticed when Albus kissed him goodnight and turned off the lights.

Better in the morning. Yes. It would be better in the morning.

Scorpius lay awake with his eyes open, staring blindly into the darkness. Life was about to change yet again, and this time they were truly alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you skipped at the asterisks, they're at a hotel in Leeds and smut ensued.
> 
> If you didn't skip (all of you, probably. shame.) then you're welcome, I guess... writing porn is weird.


	8. Interesting

Yellowstone National Park, the United States of America. Albus had visited once as a child, and so was able to apparate there no problem. They sat in a ring of hot springs that bubbled lethargically upwards from the center of the earth, releasing sulfur-scented steam into the air. Under an umbrella of enchantments, the two were practically invisible to the Muggles around them. They’d been out of Malfoy Manor for a little over three weeks, and with their funds run dry, they were camping. Albus was sitting quietly, trying to accept what was happening.

They were never going back. Never. It was best for everyone that they just disappeared, so disappear they did. Albus was attempting to force himself to come to terms with it.

The strangest thought was that they were homeless. Two teenage runaways living place to place and talking to no one- they were homeless. Albus was struggling to reconcile his opinion of himself with his opinions of all the other homeless people he’d seen wandering about. They were different. Right? Were they different? How?

He and Scorpius were sane. Or… weren’t they? They were certainly plagued by uncontrollable visions.

He and Scorpius weren’t drug addicts.  _ Addicts.  _ At least, Scorpius wasn’t. Not an addict. Albus thought of himself more as a hobbyist.

With those being his only two distinctions, Albus was forced to confront the idea that perhaps he was prejudiced. Were all homeless people crazy? Certainly not all crazy people were homeless. Were all homeless people addicts? Certainly not all addicts were homeless.

Maybe they weren’t so very unique.

That thought was tested when Albus noticed a deeply sun-tanned man staring at them with a blank affect and strange clothes.

Albus nudged Scorpius. “I think he can see us.”

“No way.” Scorpius checked their barriers. “Everything’s secure.”

“No, I kin see y’all. Kin ya see me?” He spoke with an American southern accent

Albus and Scorpius just stared at him, not sure whether talking was safe.

“I been lookin’ for ya for a while now.” He was sitting cross-legged just a few feet away from them.

Leaping to his feet, Albus analyzed the man’s long, dirty dreadlocks and heavily tattooed arms, debating whether or not to run. “Who are you?”

The man frowned. “Ahh…” He scratched his scalp, frowning like he’d just been asked a rather difficult math problem rather than a standard introductory question. “Beta.”

“Beta?” Albus repeated dully. “That’s your name?”

He ginned. “That’s all that’s in my brain.” He stood slowly. “Albus Severus Potter. Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.”

Scorpius backed away slowly.

“Careful of the geysers,” Beta warned just before one erupted.

Scorpius leapt forward again, gasping in panic.

Beta laughed. “Science, bitches.” He rubbed his palms together so frantically Albus worried he might spontaneously combust.

“Come on, let’s go.” Albus took Scorpius’ hand.

“No! Cain’t… Cain’t do nothin’ right.” Beta rubbed his face with the same fervor. “I’m tryna- but…” His voice broke off suddenly. “Um… Predicting is hard.”

Scorpius pulled his hand out of Albus’ and walked slowly towards the strange man.

“Careful…” Albus warned.

“Are you an Oracle?” Scorpius asked.

“No way.” Albus’ jaw dropped slack.

Beta nodded. “Kin ya see?” His pupils were wide.

Scorpius nodded. “I see that you started knowing things when you were twelve. That’s a long time ago.”

“Was hard to getcha here.” Beta blinked slowly.

“What do you mean, get us here?” Albus was still keeping a careful distance. The guy was doing nothing to challenge his stereotype of homeless people. Although, Albus realized, he wasn’t totally sure that’s what he was. Looked it, though.

Beta’s eyes hazed over. “Uhh… ‘Cause Yellowstone’s a place- a good place- for us to hide. Get it? We know when the geysers erupt, so we’re safe. But nobody else is.”

“Us?” Scorpius asked. “Do you mean to say there’s more?”

Albus’ stomach flipped nervously.

“Yeh, yeh. Oracles- tons of us. Hiding out in Jellystone. We all end up here.” He gestured vaguely behind him. “It’s ‘cuz… Socialism. ‘Cause we got this park- and they cain’t boot us out, yeah? So we wander around, little commune.” He chewed on his fingernail. “We planted the idea in your head weeks ago, took you a while.” He pointed all around. “Vapors! Geddit? We fill up the hot pots with Veritaserum, and it all comes around the whole air. Perfect place, man. Utopia for us guys.”

Scorpius looked at Albus questioningly.

Albus tried to look ahead.  _ Smoke and trees. People with blown pupils.  _ Albus’ heart shuddered to a stop. “He’s not lying.”

“Cain’t!” Beta exclaimed gleefully. “Only Oracles, how’d I lie? Veritaserum, man.”

“Where is everyone?” Scorpius bounced on his toes, obviously burning with curiosity.

Beta flapped his hands oddly out behind him. “Follow me.”

“Albus, we’re going.” Scorpius turned to look at him seriously.

Albus stuck his hand in his pocket, clutching his wand tightly. “Keep your eyes open.”

They followed the strange man into the woods, where a faint but present foot-beaten path guided them up a gentle hill. At the top, clouds of steam obscured a field, and delirious looking people wandered aimlessly around.

The second Albus inhaled the steam, the world shifted.

The light caught the steam in such an odd way, splitting fragile rainbows all about. How funny. Albus giggled like a child. Everything was odd. Slightly wrong.  _ Funny.  _ Really really funny. Albus watched as a leaf detached itself from a tree and floated down to the ground. It flitted to and fro in several directions at once before seeming to choose and land in a puddle. Albus looked up and watched it fall again, this time tracing only one path before it landed.

Several people wandered over to him and looked him right in the eyes. Albus’ heart broke for each one as he saw their beautiful exhaustion consume and kill them, changing them to dust. It wasn’t long before he realized he was crying.

_ Here we are, in sinew and bone, pulsing with epileptic nonsense. Every movement is seizure. Electricity shocking our muscles, chemicals churning our thoughts. _

He looked over to Scorpius, who looked blank. His eyes looked empty, his muscles hypotonic, his posture somehow wrong. Albus reached out and pulled him out of the way before a geyser erupted under his feet.

They stared at each other, understanding everything.

 

*******

 

It seems that somethingness is the default state of being. To ask what came before the universe is absurd. Nothing came before the universe. There could be no  _ before,  _ because there was no time. So asking how could something come from nothing is as ridiculous as asking what’s written on the pages before the beginning of the book. There are no pages. There is no book beyond the cover.

The universe always was. For 13.8 billion years, always. So, why is there something instead of nothing, and why is it like this?

Why does this glove fit a human hand? If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be a glove. You wouldn’t ask.

You ask because you are there to observe it. There are only observers in somethingness.

There is no one in nothingness.

Could it be some other way? Could it have?

Simply, no.

In the beginning, there was everything together. A single, zero dimensional point. Everything. Then, everything rushed away from each other at once.

The Big Bang is a misnomer. There was no explosion. There were no flames. Everything simply stretched.

From that exact moment, the entire future of the universe was determined. Like an infinitely expanding computer, everything was required to follow its programming. That’s the law.

Hydrogen and hydrogen collided and pulled on each other in a cosmic, mathematical pas de deux for billions of years until it began to think.

And think Scorpius did. He thought about the illusion of free will and the surreal absurdism that was human society.

An incredible peace overcame him, and he reached for Albus’ hand. “Pure logic is hedonistic socialism.” That sentence made a ton of sense in his head, and he figured it would in Albus’ as well.

Albus nodded. “Wow, yeah. Too many stupid, selfish humans, though.”

“We could kill off all the idiots until we had only people with both high intelligence and high compassion.” Scorpius blinked. “I think perhaps eugenics is misunderstood. It’s technically true, is it not? It’s true. That’s how evolution works. You could breed humans like dogs.”

“Or we could just stay here.” Albus gestured around themselves. “That’s what this is. Hedonistic socialism.”

“Let’s have sex.”

“Yep.”

Scorpius only had a vague awareness of what was going on around him. Consumed with sensation and math, he realized with glee that the universe is a sentient thing. The universe is a living organism. Scorpius was a part of the universe, and he was self aware. Therefore, the universe was self aware.

Time moved sideways, and Scorpius was blind. He allowed himself to be lead around by Albus everywhere they went, becoming less and less able to understand the present as the past overwhelmed him. Soon, all he knew was that the hand in his belonged to the feeling of love, and Scorpius had no intention of ever letting go.

How much time was passing?

Scorpius had no reference point. He skipped through days of history, watching it all happen as some surrealist, nihilistic movie. Born, live, die. Born, live, die. Funny, why does life do that? Seemed certifiably insane. Everything is circles, and nothing is unique.

Language began to make less and less sense to Scorpius. It was simply easier to think in concepts, language was pedantic and pointless.

The sun rose and set rapidly as Scorpius lay on his back. Strange. Not sunset. Not sunrise. No- Earth spin. Stars are still and the sun is still and the Earth spins dizzyingly.

Faces made less and less sense. Humans all look alike. Animals all look alike. Life all looks alike. Atoms all look alike.

Only his hand-in-hand tether to Albus kept him from getting lost in the woods. Haha. Trees. What bizzarre-looking things. They jut out of the ground all over the place. They don’t even know what they’re doing, they just do it.

Soon, or perhaps not so soon, Scorpius realized there wasn’t much of a difference between the atoms that made up himself and the atoms that made up the world around him. He was just a strange collection just like the atmosphere was a strange collection. He couldn’t entirely figure out who he was.

“What am I?” The first words he could remember speaking ever. He asked them to the solid, warm form he was hugging tightly. Perhaps it was just himself. On closer inspection, he appeared to be attached to it.

The form responded anyway. “Probably,” came the reply. So perhaps they weren’t the same thing.

“Are you me?” he asked, unsure.

“I don’t know,” replied the other.

A third voice rang out. “You’re two.”

“Oh.” Scorpius smiled. “Alright, then.” Existence is a strange thing. Simply odd. Scorpius burst into sudden, uncontrollable tears. “I just thought that perhaps there’s more. Perhaps this isn’t the end of time. Perhaps time will continue.”

The person he was embracing burst into tears as well. “Do you mean there were things before?”

“I thought there was only before!”

“I thought there was only after!”

The third voice said happily, “There’s also now.”

Scorpius cried out in terror. “Now?” He sobbed brokenly. “There’s the present! I forgot!” How beautiful the thought of that was! “I forgot!”

“What did your parents name you?” The third voice asked.

Like magic, the answer was there. “Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!” He laughed ecstatically.

“When were you born?”

“October 27th, 2005.”

“What was the last new year?”

“2023.”

“What was yesterday’s date?”

“November 22nd, 2023.”

“So how old are you?”

“Eighteen!”

“Now, can you remember one second ago?”

Scorpius thought about it. “Yes.”

“Focus on one second in the past. One second before right now. Can you do it?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, keep focussing on that, you’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” Scorpius smiled, content. If somebody asked him, he would know. Good. He just needed to figure out how to ask himself. His head was clouded. He couldn’t remember how. He shrugged to nobody. Oh well. Eventually, everything would probably make sense again. After all, the future probably existed. How wonderful. He’d have plenty of time to learn to understand.

How very  _ very  _ interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dunno, man. I dunno _nothin'._


	9. Amnesia

Time

  
  


is

  
  


so

  
  


long.

  
  


Every lifetime is just an instant, and even humanity is just a blip on the cosmic scale.

  
  


The information inside Albus’ head was huge. Throughout the eons, finding the present was an almost impossible task. Like finding a needle in an ocean of haystacks. A galaxy of haystacks.

Albus stared at his hands, waggling his dew covered fingers as he struggled to stay in the present. He smiled as he watched his hands trace designs in the air like a glowstick, leaving trails. He was looking only seconds into the future, but it still had a bizarre effect on his mind. He walked his fingers along the sulfur-stained grass, imagining himself to be an ant. The Oracles did work sort of like ants. They were a single mind in many organisms. Since all of them knew everything the others knew, they were silent as they wandered the landscape.

One thing Albus had learned about the future was that it was fixed. There was no changing it. At first, that idea had frightened him. After all, if the future was set, every choice he made was an illusion. No choice. None at all. However, in the months he’d been living at Yellowstone, he’d come to peace with it. Who cared if choice was an illusion? It didn’t feel like it, so what did it matter?

Another thing he’d learned was that he didn’t know everything. None of them did. Visions of the future only appeared when he either looked for them, or they became so important that they forced themselves into his mind. Visions like that affected one third of all the Oracles in the commune.

One third. They were pretty evenly divided into groups. Those who saw the future, those who saw the past, and those who saw the present. At first, Albus thought the third kind was pretty weak. Beta saw the present. Then, he’d had it explained to him.

“I know everything.” Beta chewed on a fingernail.  _ “Everything,  _ yeah? ‘Bout right now. All uh y’all know some things about the future or some things about the past, but uh-uh. Not me, man. I know  _ everything  _ about right now. I kin tell y’all what’s goin’ down between one alien and another in some other galaxy. Oh yeh- there’s aliens. So I kin do this… predicting. See the thing is, if you know everything about one point in time, you can predict everything about all the future points in time. And the past, too. So I run these… these calculations. And I can figure out what’s gonna happen.”

Albus hadn’t been able to reply to him. The Oracles who could see the present were so talkative. They lived in the moment, and they liked to socialize. Albus and the rest, they couldn’t. Not only did it seem pointless, but it was difficult. Things in the present didn’t make enough sense.

In fact, as time wore on, Albus was understanding less and less. Words were… words are… words will be… to speak, speaking, it’s- it’s… Albus saw people in the future giving up on talking to him. It wasn’t sad. It was easier that way.

Albus watched his hair grow long. How long had they been in the commune?

Seemed like someone should be looking for them.

Albus laughed. Sick! Horrible humans! Revenge is a terrible thing. The light- the right- the  _ left.  _ Left? They left. They left that family. Wait… no, he meant… The light. The good, the  _ right.  _ They would be happy. Happy at another human’s suffering, were they still right? Or… left? Were they still left? Of the aisle. Left of the political aisle, like his dad.

  
  


Oh, sad. Sad, but not bad. No, it was better. Better this way, better that he and Scorpius stay far away. Even if they locked up the Malfoys. Even if it broke his family’s hearts. Better hidden away with the… with the…

Huh? Albus looked around, wondering if the other anterograde Oracles were seeing what he was seeing. Several of them were looking at each other in confusion.

“Is that a Patronus?” one of the present-sighted Oracles asked aloud.

Albus stood up quickly, scanning the area. If the present-sighted Oracles could see it, then it must be relevant.

Scorpius clung to Albus’ arm, looking dazedly around at everyone, an expression of utter confusion on his face.

Albus shrugged at him.

There was an audible gasp from the entire group when a silver stag alighted on the grass before them. Albus stared at his father’s Patronus in silence, hoping it was a figment of his imagination. The Patronus didn’t speak. It didn’t move. It just stood silently in the field while the Oracles all stared with anxiety.

“We should run,” someone suggested.

Like a herd of buffalo, they all took off running. Across the hills and plains of the treacherous, volcanic landscape, they attempted to remain together. It didn’t seem as if anyone had a plan, or even any idea of the direction they were headed. All anyone knew was that contact from the outside meant trouble.

As they tore across the land, the silver stag followed them. Never more than a few feet behind the slowest of their group, it glided effortlessly over the ground.

Someone let out a gut wrenching cry, and several loud snaps were heard as people in silver robes apparated. Red, yellow, and blue streaks of light ripped through the air, and several Oracles hit the ground, hopefully only unconscious.

Albus didn’t look back to check as he bolted away from the people in robes, knowing somewhere deep in his heart that this was a very bad thing. Only after he heard Scorpius’ name called out by an unfamiliar voice did he realize that Scorpius wasn’t with him. Albus spun around, searching for the sound, only to be hit square in the chest by a red bolt of light. Numbness crawled through his veins, and he collapsed where he stood, falling face-first into the dirt. Several more cries cut through the sulfur-scented air before everything went quiet. For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. Then, the silence was broken by the sound of someone disapparating. Slow footsteps crunched through the grass in Albus’ direction. He struggled to move, wanting to see who it was, but found himself unable to even twitch a finger.

Had he been able to move, Albus would have jumped in surprise when someone grabbed him by the back of the shirt. The last thing Albus heard before he wa pulled into the tube-sock portal that was disapparition was the sound of his father’s voice crying out, “No! That’s my son!”

 

*******

 

Scorpius awoke with a pounding headache and stiff muscles. He tried to breathe, but his throat felt like it was on fire and he disintegrated into wheezing coughs.

“Are you okay?” an oddly familiar voice asked.

Scorpius struggled to open his eyes, which felt weighted shut. He swallowed repeatedly, trying to calm the burning in his windpipe. Sitting across from him in a small, messy room was James Potter. Scorpius frowned in confusion, trying to piece together what had happened.

To his credit, James seemed to understand Scorpius’ nonverbal question. “We’ve been looking for you guys for over a year now. We thought you were dead. We thought you’d been kidnapped. I swear, we didn’t expect to find you hiding. But, you know. By the time we figured it out, it was too late.”

Over a year? No way. No way it had been that long.

“Do you… ah… want a glass of water or something?” James stood and conjured one without waiting for an answer. He sat down next to Scorpius on what he was just then realizing was James’ bed. “Dad’s supposed to bring Al back, so he should be here any minute.” He handed the glass of water to Scorpius, who drank it gratefully. “We’re gonna move you guys to my place as soon as he gets back. We’ve already set up the Fidelius charm. Er- my place is pretty small, so you two are gonna have to share a room. But since Lisa- oh, I got married, she’s a Muggle. We were dating before you left, I dunno if you knew her. But we have stuff like a television and computers. It’s pretty cool. You won’t be bored.” He grinned. “I have a baby, too. Pretty dope. He’s totally useless, he mostly just shits his pants and cries, but sometimes I strap him to my chest and take him up on the old broom. His eyes get all wide, it’s hilarious. Most of all, Lisa  _ hates  _ it. She’s jealous she can’t fly, so me and Hank- his name’s Hank- we like to fly just out of her reach and taunt her. I think it’s pretty funny. She doesn’t always.”

“Albus isn’t coming back,” Scorpius croaked. It had been a while since he’d used his voice. Over a year, apparently.

James’ smile faded. “What do you mean?”

“He was taken by ministry officials. Not your dad.” Scorpius downed the last of his glass of water and handed it to James, who was staring at him, stunned. “Or… whoever’s in the silver robes.”

“Ministry officials, yeah.” James’ voice sounded vacant. “They took Albus? That wasn’t the deal.” He stood sharply, looking around the room like it might offer answers. “Are you sure?”

“‘M sure of everything.” Scorpius closed his eyes, exhaustion sinking into his bones. “How’d you find us?”

“I need to go tell Mum.” James dashed out the door, anxiety hunching his shoulders.

Scorpius took a shaky breath, unable to feel any emotion just yet. He figured he’d panic later. In the moment, he just wanted to sleep. He could feel the year’s worth of Veritaserum draining slowly from his brain, and the desire to speak was fading as his ability to speak grew.

Before long (Scorpius was still unsure of time), Ginny and James Potter burst into the room, startling him out of his semi-slumber.

“Where’s Albus?” Ginny sat down next to him, a frantic tone to her voice.

“I don’t know.” Scorpius shook his head, struggling to stay awake. This was important. He needed to be present. “I can’t see where they took him. It’s still happening.” He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the sleep from them. “How did you find us?”

“The ministry’s been looking for you,” Ginny replied. “Nobody knew where you’d gone.”

“Did they get the other Oracles?” Scorpius yawned and attempted to sit up.

“Other…?” Ginny asked, confused.

“There was so many of them, Mum,” James explained. “We didn’t expect it. I assume they grabbed as many as they could. I saw several officials disapparate with people I didn’t recognize.”

Ginny nodded darkly. “Alright. Well, then. We need to get you to James’ house as soon as possible. Are you in any condition to apparate?”

Scorpius shrugged. “I can do side-along. I’m not sure where my wand is.”

Ginny cleared her throat, blinking rapidly against forming tears. “Alright, James. Take him with you. When we find Albus, I’ll contact you and you can come get him.”

James nodded solemnly. “Okay. Yeah, sure.” He clapped Scorpius on the shoulder. “Ready to go, Malfoy?”

Scorpius nodded weakly. “Lead the way.” He struggled to stand, feeling more than a little hung-over from the year’s worth of potions rattling his brain.

James took his hand and lead him outside. “I’ll… er… catch you up. On the year you missed. Later.” He tried to smile awkwardly before giving up and disapparating, Scorpius in tow.

They appeared just in front of a small, blue house on a Muggle street. Electric lights glowed in the windows, and the lawn was overgrown by a few weeks of neglect. Scorpius stumbled along after James, who knocked briefly on the door before throwing it open.

Inside, a television set was glowing with pictures of strange, colorful creatures. On a couch before it, a young woman with light brown hair the same color as her skin was holding a baby who was gaping at the picture on the screen. Hank and Lisa, Scorpius presumed.

“Hey, this is Scorpius. Albus’... friend.” James introduced him. “This is Lisa my wife and Hank my son.”

Lisa smiled a broad, toothy grin. “Hello, Scorpius. Nice to meet you.” She sounded vaguely Welsh.

Scorpius just waved mutely.

“Where’s your brother?” Lisa looked at the door like Albus might just burst through it.

“He’s… ah… not here. He didn’t make it out. Ministry took him.” James stared at the floor.

“You’re joking.” Lisa stood, adjusting Hank on her hip. “I thought they were just there to protect you.”

“I guess not.” James couldn’t make eye contact. “I’m still not totally sure what’s going on.”

Lisa fell into stony silence.

“So…” James shifted his weight awkwardly. “We just wait, I suppose.”

Lisa nodded repeatedly. “Well… Scorpius, have a seat, won’t you?”

Scorpius nodded. “Okay.” He shuffled over to sit on the couch next to her and the baby. “I…”

“Look, Hank, it’s your uncle Scorpius!” Lisa pointed the infant at him.

The kid blinked his dark brown eyes, staring at Scorpius like he’d never seen anything like him.

“Hi, Hank,” Scorpius greeted. Strange for James to have a kid. How old was he? Twenty? Twenty one? Seemed young. Scorpius wondered if it had been on purpose. Out of habit, he tried to look back and see. The Veritaserum was draining from his brain, however, and his anamnesis was fuzzy. “What year is it?” he asked instead.

“25,” Lisa answered, sounding confused.

“What’s the date?” Scorpius tried to calculate his own age.

“December 3rd,” Lisa sounded concerned.

“I’m twenty.” Scorpius figured. “Didn’t I leave when I was seventeen?”

“Eighteen,” James sat down next to him. “And you’ve been gone for over a year, so… yeah, twenty.”

Scorpius struggled to let that sink in. “It feels like a week.”

“Maybe you should go lay down.” James patted him on the back nervously.

Scorpius nodded. “We’re gonna find Albus, right?”

James hesitated before responding. “Yeah. Yeah, bruv, it’s all good. He’s gonna be fine.” He stood, and helped Scorpius to stand up with him. “We’ll get him back. We’ll work this out. Everything’s gonna be okay.”

Scorpius wanted to believe him more than anything in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter- I'll be out of town for a bit, so don't expect any updates within the next couple days.


	10. Cooperation

Melted. Albus chewed on the word as an apt description of the sensation in his brain. He felt shaken. Unhealthy. Fragile. Like his entire body was giving up on him. Not painful, just empty. Aged. Deflated.

He stared blankly at the wall in front of him, to which was pinned an armada of weakly flapping paper airplanes, all containing interdepartmental messages from Ministry workers Albus didn’t care about. Around him, people were talking. He couldn’t find the strength to interpret what they were saying, so it all just sounded like vaguely English gibberish. It gave him the odd impression that he’d actually forgotten his native tongue. Maybe he had. Albus really couldn’t be bothered to think about whether or not that was even possible. He didn’t even want to look into the future. For the first time in a while Veritaserum wasn’t forcing divination out of him, and he wasn’t going to put in any sort of effort to see on his own. Quite honestly, if Albus never knew anything again, it would be too soon. He wanted to be stupid. He wanted to never learn another new thing in his life. He didn’t even want to look around and try to figure out where he was.

He was sitting in a chair at the Ministry. That was enough information for the moment.

“Albus Severus Potter,” someone said all three of his names and it sparked a flash of annoyance in his chest. It sounded like he was being reprimanded. Or spoken to by the villain of a very stupid book. “You’re probably wondering why you’re here.”

Albus didn’t have the energy for much, but his capacity to get pissed off was still very much thriving. “If you’re gonna talk like a cliche, I’m not going to bother with any of this. I don’t care. Don’t give me your evil plan, just AK me now so I don’t have to listen to your stupid voice anymore.”

The room was quiet for a moment. “I feel you may have the wrong impression.”

“I don’t give a shit.” Albus slouched in his chair and refused to look up.

“We don’t intend to cause you any sort of harm, Mr. Potter.”

Albus sighed. “Can I go home or are you going to kill me? Those are the only two things I’m okay with.” He slid down further in his chair so that he was pretty much supine.

“Well, we certainly don’t intend to kill you.”

“But I can’t go home either,” Albus read the implied message in the speaker’s tone. “So I’m just going to take a nap until something happens. I don’t want anything to do with this.” He shut his eyes. Falling asleep didn’t seem exactly far-fetched. He was exhausted down to his bones. Deep in his marrow.

Someone laughed. “Do we really need him? We have plenty others.”

Albus raised an eyebrow over his closed lids.

“Nobody knows about the others. We need to keep them a secret from the other governments.”

“The Potters have Malfoy. If they don’t return him to his family, then word will get out anyway. This entire plan hinges on the Malfoys cooperating. If they keep Scorpius hostage-”

“The Potters are loyal to their family, and Granger is with us. Scorpius will be returned to his family, I’m sure of it. Besides which, Narcissa is already in our custody. The Malfoys  _ will  _ cooperate. They are loyal to their own as well.”

Albus groaned. “I  _ said  _ I don’t want to hear the evil plan!” He kicked his feet out in front of himself, knowing full well he looked like an insolent child. “I don’t even care about this entire  _ planet!  _ Do the whole world domination schtick, but do it without me. I  _ don’t care.”  _ He opened his eyes and glared at the people standing before him. Three men in silver robes were looking back at him, seeming lost for words. “I care so little, you wouldn’t believe it.” He stuck out his chin as a challenge. “The absolute  _ only  _ thing I care about is taking a nap, and the absolute  _ only  _ person I care about is Scorpius. If he’s with my family, then I’m not concerned. So I just want to sleep. I would murder all of you for a blanket and pillow. I don’t even care about explaining myself. So fuck you. Shut up. Fuck you. I’m just going to fight until I get a chance to sleep. I will make your lives  _ hell  _ until I get a chance to sleep.” He stood shakily and kicked his chair into the wall with what little energy he had remaining. “I’ve already read this book! You’re all cliches! Archetypes! I read the last page and I win! I’m the protagonist,  _ fuck you!”  _ He knocked over a stack of papers and watched them scatter on the floor.

The three Ministry officials were staring at him like he’d gone insane. “Should we just hold off until tomorrow?”

“We can just put him in a jail cell for the night.”

“Alright, call Bertha. Have her make up a bed for him.” The apparent leader shook his head. “I’m the protagonist, fuck you?”

“None of them make much sense when they talk.” One of the others clicked his tongue. “We’ve got the others all separate now, but earlier today they were a nightmare. Couldn’t understand a word. At least this one’s speaking grammatically.”

So stupid. They were all so short sighted and stupid. They didn’t know how small they all were. How short their asinine lives were. How little any of it all mattered. “Just another iteration of the power-hungry diplomat! You’re always doing this, and you always end up dead! Rome fell and so will you! None of this makes a difference. Doesn’t matter. Culture is round, and choice is an illusion anyway. Nothing I say will change your mind because your mama told you school was important before you turned seven. Worn out elastic, your brains are. Can’t do a damn thing new.”

The leader just shooed his confederates away. “Go set up the cell. If Albus Potter’s just as crazy as the rest of them, then he’s of no use to us here.”

Albus sat down on the floor where he stood, relieved. “Good, you’re doing something useful.” He laid down on his back and shut his eyes, drowning in his own brain. “I want to sleep.”

“So you’ve said,” the leader scoffed as the other two darted gratefully out the door. “Really unfortunate, this Oracle business. Quite a devastating disease, it seems.”

Albus could already feel himself falling asleep. “We’re not crazy, I don’t think,” he mumbled, mostly to himself. “Just got more perspective. Everything is large. Big scale. I wish I was stupid so bad.”

“Your father’s going to be crushed when he finds out what’s happened to you.”

“Don’t care,” Albus grumbled. “Don’t fucking care.”

The world numbed around him as he fell into that middle-ground between sleep and wakefulness. Maybe everything would be better if he got some rest. Somehow he doubted it, but maybe. His brain wasn’t communicating properly with itself. It almost felt like each part of his brain was its own person. Just a bunch of people inside of his head, screaming at the stupidity of all the single-minds running around him in their frothing rampage for purpose and power. His brain hurt. One thing that had been great about Veritaserum was that it didn’t give him a chance to question things. Everything just was. There was truth, and that was all. They were all just premonition and instinct, living like omniscient but not omnipotent gods, watching the world go by with utter apathy. Or, perhaps apathy was the wrong word. Detachment. It was interesting, but separate. The world, that is. It was separate from himself. If there even  _ had  _ been a “himself.” He hadn’t been entirely self-aware. Ego-death, he’d probably label it.

Albus smiled as he remembered. For however long he had been in the commune, one thing had always been present and consistent was Scorpius. Through the strange, delirious fog of Oracle Syndrome and Veritaserum, he’d held on to Scorpius’ hand. At times, he hadn’t been fully certain that he had hands himself, but the idea of letting go of Scorpius’ was absurd. As far as Albus knew, they were the same person. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were? It would certainly make things simpler.

Someone shook his shoulder. “Did you want to sleep in a bed?” a soft, female voice addressed him.

Albus forced his eyes open. “Okay.” A strange sort of peace came over him, and he reached out for whoever had woken him as if he were a child reaching out from his cot.

The woman took him by the hands and helped him up. Gently, she guided him out the door with her arm around his back. “You’ll feel better in the morning. We’ll figure this out, Albus. We’ll work things out. I’m sorry I can’t do more to help right now.”

Albus frowned at the pang of sadness that struck his chest. Something about her tone was different than what he expected. Oh. Slowly, he pieced together familiar facial features. His aunt. Right. She was Minister for Magic. “What’s going on?” His voice sounded weak in his ears. Like a child.

“It’s above even my control. If it were just you and Scorpius, perhaps I would have a little more say. As it is, the entire Ministry and the Muggle Minister as well are scrambling to make a plan. I’m afraid it’s just unfortunate that you were brought here. They disobeyed orders on the field when they brought you in, but their defense that they needed to change tactics upon discovering the fifty seven other Oracles is holding up in the Wizengamot, I’m afraid. But Scorpius is safe in a Fidelius-protected location. I’m not the secret keeper, but it’s not Grimmauld Place, so you can probably guess.” She brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You need a haircut.” She stopped short outside a small, barred-off room. She had to look up to meet Albus’ eyes. She was quite a bit shorter than him. It was strange, that. To Albus, she’d always seemed ten feet tall. Strange to look down. She gave him a teary smile. “I’m so sorry, Al.”

Albus couldn’t find words. It didn’t seem right. The whole situation, it just felt confusing and wrong. Before he knew what was happening, a door clanged shut before him, and he was alone in the cell. Albus doubted everything. He doubted reality. He doubted what he could see. Everything was just shapes, it didn’t make sense. The damp chill of the air, it didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense.

He stood numbly, staring around himself with absolutely zero comprehension. Just shapes. Just strange lights and shapes. Nothing seemed real.

In one heartbeat, everything was calm. In the next, crushing sadness pressed its thumb on the back of Albus’ neck and he topped over onto the floor, misunderstanding gravity. It was his fault, all of it. Somehow, he had caused all of this. Stupid, awful decisions he’d made had somehow landed him locked in a cell, clearly out of his mind.

Maybe he was just crazy. Maybe everything he’d ever known was wrong, and he was just crazy. Maybe his parents were right and the frankly frightening amount of hallucinogens he’d done in school really had caused him to go mad. The world did have that sort of sideways feeling to it. Like everything was inexplicably wrong.

Wouldn’t that be a simpler explanation than all the shite he  _ thought  _ had happened? Probably, right? Maybe he should wait it out. Maybe if he just lay there on the floor, everything would slowly fall back in place.

He blinked his eyes open, realizing they were closed. Odd. It was almost like he’d forgotten the world existed beyond his closed lids. He sighed and realized his thumb was in his mouth. Like a baby. He pulled it out and wiped his hand on his shirt, somewhat comforted by the idea of waiting it out. If his experience with drugs had taught him anything, it was that time was his friend. Just wait. Just stay put and wait. Eventually, everything would probably be normal again.

Sleep. Right. He’d forgotten why he was in the cell in the first place. There was a bed in the corner that on any other day would probably look uncomfortable and cold. At the moment, however, it looked like heaven.

Albus dragged himself over to it and crawled under the blanket, curling in on himself. Sleep and waiting. The two best solutions to a dangerously unstable grip on reality. The only real cure for a bad trip.

Under the blanket, the world was just as large. Because it wasn’t the world around him that was causing all the problems, it was the inside of his own head. The only thing Albus couldn’t escape. Still, it was warm and more simple, and he could pretend like everything was okay.

Sleep and time. Time. More time. Just a little bit of real time. Aging time. Time in which his physical body existed.

Albus wasn’t aware of himself drifting off to sleep, but eventually he must have because everything stopped. Good. Not existing was definitely preferable. He’d probably be better in the morning, right? He’d probably be better when he woke up.

 

*******

 

Scorpius woke up to the sound of baby Hank crying. It came as a relief. His dreams had all been acutely confusing and scary. Yawning, he rolled out of bed and quickly readied himself for the day. Downstairs, Lisa was attempting to breastfeed the screaming child while simultaneously doing something on what Scorpius recognized as a computer. Hank wasn’t having it. Every time Lisa attempted to go back to what she was doing on the device, he’d stop eating and resume screaming.

“Mornin’, Malfoy,” James greeted as he strolled into the kitchen with a nearly empty glass of orange juice. He shook his head at Hank. “Boy’s got Lisa’s lovely tit in his mouth and still isn’t happy, the brat.” He sat down in a chair next to her. “I’d offer to help, but I think he’d like my tits even less.”

Lisa gave a belaboured sigh. “Trying out your new material on Scorpius?”

James grinned.  _ “Somebody’s  _ going to find me funny. Eventually.”

“I’m holding my breath.” Lisa rolled her eyes. “There’s eggs in the frying pan, Scorpius. If you’re hungry. I’m afraid we’ve both already eaten, Hank had us up at five.”

Scorpius nodded and went to fork some scrambled eggs onto a plate. He couldn’t remember eating in… well, over a year. Surely, he had. He couldn’t remember anything, though. He was hungry.

“Aunt Hermione sent an owl this morning, says Albus is safe. You’re the only one who actually made it out, apparently. Fifty nine of you all together, Ministry’s rounded them up. They’re all being held until someone works out a plan.” James waved a piece of parchment, presumably Hermione’s letter. “How…” He frowned, looking at the letter. “She wants to know if you’re okay. Mentally, it seems.” He shrugged. “Are you?”

Sure. Yeah. Scorpius nodded. “‘M fine.”

“Right, yeah, you seem just normal, but… I dunno, I guess Al’s acting odd.”

Scorpius shrugged. “He’s always sort of odd.”

James grinned. “Don’t I know it. Odder than usual, I suppose. I guess she wants to know if he was like that before. At the park, I mean.”

Scorpius thought about it. Really, he didn’t know. He didn’t know anything. “You could ask it as a specific question, and I would probably answer. But as for my own opinion of normal Albus, I can’t remember anything of this past year. I wish I could, but I wasn’t even quite sure what a human was, let alone the ins and outs of normal human behavior. I think I might be fairly useless here.”

“You weren’t sure what a human was?” James leaned forward, looking interested. “How do you mean?”

Scorpius struggled to put words to the concept. “I guess… Well, I could see all of the past. Not just history, all of the past. Before humans, before life, before Earth. All the way to the beginning of the universe. That’s a lot of time. I got a little lost. Humanity is infinitesimal compared to all of time. I sort of just forgot.”

“Bizarre.” James stared at him with wide eyes. “So, what was before the universe?”

Scorpius shrugged. “Nothing. There wasn’t time, so there wasn’t a before.”

“Where’d it all come from, then?”

“I don’t know. I can only see through time, so… I can’t tell.”

James let out a low whistle. “That’s a trip. Does Albus know how the universe ends?”

“Probably.” Scorpius stared down at his eggs. “I don’t think I’ll ask him. I know too much already.”

James snorted. “You sure you’re okay? Never thought I’d see the day Scorpius Malfoy didn’t care to know something.”

Scorpius didn’t have an answer for that. James was strange to talk to. Scorpius was never completely sure whether he was joking or not. Whether he was being sarcastic or not. He was nothing like Albus, who spoke his mind and always said what he meant. He wished Albus was with him. “Is there no way we can bring Albus back here?”

“Not immediately, doesn’t seem so. Hermione’s working on it, though. She’ll make sure he’s okay.”

Slow. Living in real time was slow. Skipping through eons in a heartbeat on Veritaserum had been such instant gratification, stepping back into the real world felt like walking through molasses. Like pushing an elephant through mud. Like effort just existing. He wanted to lay down on the floor and pretend the next second wouldn’t happen. He wanted to exist only in the past. Just like before. Being in the present was so… understimulating. He ate his eggs in silence, hoping against hope that when he was done, another year would have passed and everything would be back to how it was before. Before in any time of his life. Just not that exact moment. That exact moment was unbearable.

“Wanna go check out the television?” James asked excitedly some time later.

Scorpius looked down. His plate was empty. Oh. Okay. “Sure.”

“It’s cool, you’ll like it.” He bounced into the sitting room and switched the odd machine on.

Scorpius followed and sat down next to him, staring at the colourful picture that moved across the front.

“You can’t talk to it, though. I tried. Lisa laughed. For weeks, she didn’t correct me. I’ll spare you. The damn thing can’t hear you.” He chuckled to himself. “Sometimes I talk to it anyway.”

Scorpius watched in silence as story after story was told through drawings and photographs that danced across the glowed in the frame. As interesting as it probably should have been, he didn’t pay much attention. He wasn’t thinking, either. He just sat, empty. Empty. Empty. Everything was just boring. The entire world felt small and useless and  _ boring.  _ He wished Albus was there. Then at least they could be bored together.

Scorpius didn’t even feel human anymore. He was too old. He’d existed for far too long. He was an exhausted deity with too much power. Nothing could challenge him. He knew everything. He couldn’t learn anything.

A sudden realization hit him, shaking him to his core. He was only twenty. He probably had sixty more years left to go. Maybe eighty. He’d only made it through about a quarter of his life, and only two years of that had been as an Oracle. Really, you could argue he was only two years old. Everything before that had been gestation. Life is  _ long.  _ It’s so long. Far, far too long. He had thirty times as much life left to live as he was. As enormous as the past two or three or however many years already felt, as slow as these past few hours had been, it was  _ nothing  _ compared to what he still had yet to endure.

Merlin.

What was happening to the other Oracles? What  _ would  _ happen to the other Oracles? Ripped unceremoniously from their quiet little world and forced back into the normal flow of time, no wonder Albus was acting oddly. All of them probably were. It was cruel. They weren’t hurting anyone, living in Yellowstone. It had been the perfect situation. All of the Oracles of the world living in isolation, protecting the world from them and protecting themselves from the world.

Quarantine. It was quarantine. And now the entire world was in danger because the Ministry couldn’t leave well enough alone. Typical.

Scorpius tried to feel angry, but couldn’t. All he could feel was the muted desperation to get back to the clouded utopia of Yellowstone beneath heavy waves of depression. If only he could  _ actually  _ go back in time. Undo everything that had happened. Find a way to keep them all safe from the Ministry. Beneath the watchful eye of the public.

Travelling in time. Of course, that’s the reason he was in this mess in the first place. Maybe he should travel in time to stop himself from ever travelling in time. Go back and kill Delphi as a baby. Kill Bellatrix before she became pregnant. Kill Voldemort as an infant. Why hadn’t they tried any of that? Maybe they’d been confunded the whole time. Seemed pretty stupid, the whole thing.

Regardless, he was stuck in the present. There was only forward, and there was only  _ slow.  _ If anything was going to change, he had to do it in this frustrating velocity. And that all started with getting Albus. Scorpius wasn’t entirely sure why, but he knew in his gut that he needed to get Albus out of the Ministry. And to do that, he needed powerful people. Hermione Granger. His father. His grandfather. Harry Potter. He needed them all to get along and work together.

Now  _ that  _ was a monstrous task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, all. I'm back! I got the chance to visit Harry Potter World at Universal in Orlando. It was amazing!! Now that school is over (forever, woot) I'll have more time to write. So let's figure out this bizarre story and get to work! :D


	11. Desperation

Albus awoke the next morning to the sounds of people screaming just outside the door to his cell. It was cacophonous noise, and he wasn’t sure how to handle it. One female voice pitched above the rest, and his ears honed in like bats’ to the sound.

_ “Get out of my way!”  _ His mother’s voice. Ginny’s voice. Albus relaxed instantly, knowing he was safe. “Albus, honey, are you okay?”

Slowly, Albus sat up in bed. His muscles hurt like he’d spent hours in rigorous exercise. The world was still spinning around him, but at least his mother was there. She’d make sure nothing bad happened to him. He smiled, and the odd buzz in his head turned from poison to candy. “Mornin’, Mum.”

Silver robes were attempting to usher Ginny away from the door to Albus’ cell, but she was having none of it. “We’re going to get you out of here, don’t worry.”

Worry? How could he? His mother, all powerful, was at his defense. “Okay.” He stared at the floor, taking a moment to figure out how to stand up. Once satisfied with his formula, he walked over to take his mother’s hand through the steel bars.

“Your father’s playing politics, but we’re trying to figure out the best way to correct this mistake. He’s in a meeting with Hermione and some other higher-ups at the moment, but as soon as they’re done I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

Albus nodded, absolutely content. “Is Scorpius okay?” He wanted to hear it from her. Not from anyone who worked for the ministry, but a trusted source.

“He’s fine, darling. He’s with… He’s under fidelius.”

Albus frowned, unsure why nobody was saying he was with James. It as perfectly obvious to Albus. “Yeah, I know where he is.”

“You do?” She looked surprised. “I suppose that’s part of your gift, then. I can barely think of the location. I’m not the secret keeper.”

“Can’t I go with him? What’s the problem if I’m locked away?” He tightened his grip on her hand and looked out at the people in silver. “Can’t I go with him?”

Nobody answered.

Ginny scowled at the silver robes. “They don’t want you together. They’re afraid of your capabilities.”

Albus frowned, confused by everyone’s stupidity. “Do you really all think you can control us? You opened Pandora’s box when you took us out of Yellowstone. We’re out. The world will change. Forever.”

One tall woman in silver stepped forwards. “Is that a prophecy?”

Albus could have laughed. “It’s common sense. The governments of the world can fight for control of us all they want, but there’s no controlling this. We’re too strong. Separating Scorpius and I doesn’t do a damn thing. If your point is to keep the two of us from conspiring, then you’re blind. We don’t even talk, me and him. Why should we? We’re clairvoyant. You’re just afraid that our families will use us for political power. That’s why you took Narcissa into custody. Put an old woman in prison because of her grandson’s anamnesis? You’re just making enemies of the Malfoys. I wouldn’t want them to have a vendetta against me. Especially not with Scorpius’ abilities on their side. Blackmail is a funny thing. Scorpius is good at it.” Albus looked over at the door just as his dad and aunt walked in. “Hello.”

Harry and Hermione both looked sombre.

“We think we have a tentative plan,” Hermione said carefully.

“These bureaucrats don’t care about our son at all,” Harry interjected, scowling at the silver robes. “Not to mention the fifty seven other Oracles they have locked in jail cells. It’s inhumane.” He reached out to ruffle Albus’ hair through the bars of the cell. “How’s it going, boy?”

Albus just nodded, a little overwhelmed by his father’s energy.

“Are you feeling better?” He looked at Albus seriously, scanning his eyes for something Albus wasn’t sure of.

“Yeah…” Albus managed to respond, completely confused by his surroundings. He could feel a migraine begin to develop behind his right eye. “Can I come home?”

“We’re trying to figure out a way to make that happen.” Hermione stepped forwards. “The problem is all the others. We’re attempting to track down where they came from, but it’s a problem when most of them can’t remember their names. We’ve been trying to get some answers out of them by asking for prophecies, but we don’t really know where to begin.” She wrung her hands together and scanned Albus head to toe. “And most of them also seem to be a little psychotic.” She cleared her throat, not looking Albus in the eyes. “So we’re hoping to find a place to house you all until we figure out what else to do.”

Albus nodded, not really understanding. Reality felt sort of warped. “When are we going?”

“Hogwarts,” Harry stepped forwards, not quite answering his question. “Just until summer’s over. It’s the perfect place. The Ministry can watch over you and figure out what needs to be done.”

“Well, we don’t yet know if Hogwarts will be an option,” Hermione cautioned. “So-”

“It’ll work. It will.” Harry stood resolute. “I sent a letter to McGonagall, she’ll say yes.”

“Yes, she says yes.” Albus frowned at everyone around him. It was so odd that they just stood there in confusion. They didn’t know  _ anything.  _ “You should ask me, I know things.”

Hermione smiled awkwardly. “Right, well…” She cleared her throat. “We weren’t sure if you were… if you were able to-”

“We thought you’d gone mad, but you seem fine,” Harry spared her the discomfort. “You’re feeling okay?”

Albus figured honesty was the best policy. “Everything’s a little weird, but I’m working through it.” He stared at his hands, trying to judge the severity of his insanity. Nothing  _ looked  _ wrong, which was a little disturbing. On drugs, he’d been able to tell how far out of reality he was based on how things looked. Without that moderator, he was even more lost. “I’m not quite sure what’s wrong, but everything is definitely strange.” He chewed on his tongue, testing it out. “Plus, I can lie again. So the Veritaserum’s gone. That doesn’t explain it then, does it?” His heart sank. “I thought I’d be better if I slept it off.”

“That’s one of the reasons we think Hogwarts is the safest place for you all.” Hermione stepped in again, trying to sound like she knew what she was talking about even though Albus could tell she was lost. “It will be a good environment for you all to figure things out again.”

“What about Scorpius?” Albus persisted. “He can come too, right?”

Nobody answered him, which in itself was an answer.

“Why not?” Albus sat down on the floor, feeling dizzy. “I don’t wanna go where he’s not.” People were taking too long to answer, so Albus laid down on his back, staring blindly up at the ceiling. “You’re all frozen, the lot of you. Just floating around where the sea takes you, giant blocks of ice. Can’t you do anything on your own? Everything’s so stupid!” He felt like someone was standing on his chest. “You’re all so myopic!” He gasped, struggling to breathe. “Just- you know empathy would help. Like glasses for present-locked myopic arseholes. Empathy glasses. You don’t know  _ anything.” _

People were muttering to each other around him, but Albus didn’t care to listen. “Maybe empathy’s not quite… self-awareness. Shit!” He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I barely even know my  _ name,  _ but at least I’m self-aware enough to know my place in history!” He could feel himself spinning out, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He gave up on being angry, realizing he was beyond help and beyond helping. “Whatever. I’m not bothered. Just put me wherever I need to be.” He lay sprawled out on the floor, eyes closed, breathing heavily. He felt like he’d just run a marathon. An emotional marathon. He stopped thinking. Nothing was making good sense anyway. The universe was just too absurd. Maybe he’d just stop entirely. Stop thinking. Stop moving. Stop talking. Just lay there and be a shell. The inside of his head was enormous enough that he could explore forever and never be bored. Maybe that’s what all the Oracles of history had ended up doing. Maybe shutting down wasn’t the horrific tragedy he’d imagined it to be a couple years ago. Maybe it would be a relief.

Albus stayed perfectly still and the universe moved around him. People’s faces blurred past as they dressed him and moved him from room to room. Every now and then someone’s voice would crackle through the haze in Albus’ mind. Some stupid question or another about what the plan was, or where everyone was supposed to be. Albus locked eyes with the other Oracles as they were all loaded into a car to be driven to King’s Cross. Nobody was speaking. Nobody was doing anything at all. Half of them were in wheelchairs, apparently not even wanting or able to walk.

“I’ll see you soon, sweetheart,” Albus’ mother’s voice made it through the fog. She was crying. “We’re going to do everything we can.”

Albus opened his mouth, wanting to respond. To his surprise and frustration, no words made it past his tongue. He tried again, but they were already loading him onto the train. Too many things were happening around him, and he couldn’t stay focussed on a single word long enough to articulate it.

“Locked out, they call it.” Someone took Albus’ hand. Beta. What a strange person. “Don’t try to fight it, you gotta… gotta jus’ relax.” He smiled an awkward, crooked smile. “Locked out, Albus Potter. Ain’t nothin’ to be done.”

Albus stared at Beta, trying to shake the confusion and worry from his brain.

“Let’s find a seat, alright?” Beta scanned the train. “Coolio… Never been on a train before. Going to Hogwarts. Neat. Never been to school before.” He pointed at a compartment. “Wanna go sit down?”

Albus couldn’t even nod by way of response. He was so overwhelmed by the world.

Beta led Albus inside anyway. Once comfortably seated, he immediately resumed talking. “So, Albus Potter, you’re all used to walking around with Scorpius Malfoy, well welcome to the world. Gotta stand on your own occasionally, man. Gotta prop yourself up on a wall and try not to scare people. Ya see?” He tapped the side of his head. “It’s not about what’s going on inside, it’s about how ya look on the outside. Gotta look normal. Normal-ish. You ain’t never looking normal again  _ ever.”  _ He laughed wildly. “Aw, I’m sorry. Don’t wanna freak you out, confuse you or nothing. But the bad trips, yeah? They’re the teachers. All the close calls, that’s how you figure things out. Gonna get some bruises, man. Gonna get some bumps. But things’ll settle. You’ll go back to feeling alright. Just not  _ normal,  _ get me? Always different now, but that don’t gotta be bad.” He chewed on a fingernail, already down to the quick. “It’s all about the vibes. Who you’re with, what’s going on. You feel all that, right? All the energy. You feel people?”

Albus’ vacant stare must have meant something to Beta.

“Right on. So, you gotta find who’s got the good vibes. See, I liked Scorpius Malfoy. He’s calm for you. Y’all don’t mind being friendly with each other. That’s good, man. But if he’s not with you, you can’t just be standing there spun. Get it? You gotta still go on when he’s not with you. Even if you’re locked out. Even if you’re confused. Gotta trust a  _ little bit,  _ dude. Gotta trust the rest of us. Okay? We love you, kid. You’re with us.”

Albus nodded. “Okay.”

 

*******

 

Scorpius felt trapped. He stood wedged between the future and the past, completely unable to move. He could read things in the past, but it wasn’t nearly what it had been in Yellowstone. With Veritaserum. It was more like quoting facts out of an encyclopaedia. True, but boring. He wasn’t entirely sure how long he’d been standing completely still in James’ kitchen, but it was long enough that Lisa noticed.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Scorpius responded shortly.

“Do you need something?”

“No.” He just didn’t want to move. It wasn’t like there was a problem, he just lacked the willpower it would take to do anything.

Lisa stared at him for a moment before she seemed to decide to disregard Scorpius’ answer. “James, come here.”

James strode in a moment later with baby Hank on his hip. “At your service.” He inspected Scorpius as he handed Hank over to Lisa. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” He really didn’t want to talk about it.  _ Nothing  _ was the matter. Exactly  _ nothing  _ was happening. That’s what was so frustrating.

“They moved Albus to Hogwarts. Along with the others.”

“I know.” Scorpius had watched them leave, heartbroken. If he was going to be trapped in time, he wanted to at least be trapped with Albus.

“So…” James frowned. “What’s the problem?”

“Nothing.”

James hesitated, then shrugged. “He says it’s nothing. Don’t know what to tell you.”

Lisa huffed. “We’re supposed to make sure he doesn’t… You know.”

“I don’t think he’s gonna go crazy. Dad said Al was already like that when they picked him up.” He lowered his voice unnecessarily. Scorpius could still clearly hear him. “Dad also says he doesn’t think Al’s crazy either. He says that the Oracles were probably all drugged up on something. Still are, I guess. Al’s gotten in trouble in the past with that kind of stuff…” He shrugged. “Dad says it just looks like he’s high.”

Scorpius didn’t bother arguing. He really didn’t see a point.

“You think your brother’s on drugs?” Lisa looked horrified.

James tilted his head noncommittally. “We haven’t seen him in almost two years. Who knows what they got up to over in America?”

Lisa shook her head sadly. “What a shame. Poor kid. He’s so young, too.”

James laughed. “Twenty’s nothing. He was fifteen when it all started, right Scorpius?”

Lisa gasped.

“Thirteen,” Scorpius answered automatically.

James grimaced. “Ah, I forgot I’m not supposed to ask you questions like that. Sorry. Thirteen, though. Blimey. Explains his marks at school.” He shook himself as if to physically rid the disturbing news from his mind. “So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dad’s right and he’s actually just drugged. Sort of hoping that’s the case, actually. More of a chance we can pull him out of it.”

With every word said, Scorpius grew more frustrated. Talking was so  _ slow.  _ They were so slow! Nothing was happening, he was trapped in eternity, and he didn’t want it anymore. Scorpius gasped, stunned, as he realized he actually wanted to die.

“What’s wrong?” James frowned at him.

Scorpius shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. What a terrifying thought. He genuinely wanted to be dead. He’d never thought that before, it was a disturbing feeling. Still, his brain grasped onto the thought like nothing else. That was certainly a way to exist only in the past. It’s exactly what his brain was craving. Not to be in the present anymore. He didn’t belong. It wasn’t meant for him. He was history. Just some part of history. The future needed to tumble on without him. “What’s the plan, James?” He said softly, praying someone would give him some news.

“Plan?”

Scorpius nodded. “What do we do? Where do we go? How do we fight this?”

“Fight what?”

Scorpius wanted to scream. “How do we fix this whole mess? What are we supposed to do now?”

James stared at him silently for way too long. “We don’t really do anything, bruv. We’re waiting for the Ministry to work things out with your dad, yeah? He’s negotiating what’s to be done with you and your grandmother. It’s all just politics. We’re just here to keep you safe.”

Waiting. Scorpius couldn’t bear waiting. Not for one more eternal second. “But what about Albus?” A note of desperation came into his voice. “What are we going to do?”

James shook his head slowly. “Albus is fine, mate. He’s at Hogwarts, remember? We’re done. We’ve already done what we were supposed to do.”

Scorpius swallowed roughly and nodded, casting his eyes to the ground. “So the best possible outcome here is that all of the Oracles are stored away in some place like Hogwarts? Forever?”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

The world sank away, leaving Scorpius standing in blank space. He felt nothing. “Alright.” He turned to walk out the door.

James followed along behind him. “Where are you going? You can’t leave the fidelius.”

Scorpius stepped over the threshold anyway.

James darted after him. “Lisa, stay inside.” He grabbed Scorpius’ arm. “I’m not kidding, you can’t leave.”

Scorpius ignored him and walked down the path to the street.

“I don’t want to have to force you, mate. This isn’t going to be fun.”

“We’re done,” Scorpius said dully. “We’re done doing things. So the rest of time is empty.”

James’ eyes widened almost comically. “Bloody hell... You  _ are _ crazy.”

“Sure, whatever.” Scorpius didn’t care. “There’s nothing in the future. So I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m only good in the past, so I don’t want a future.”

“Wait, what?” James planted himself directly in front of Scorpius, blocking his path. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

“Can’t read the present.” Scorpius stepped around him and continued walking down the road.

James grabbed the back of Scorpius’ shirt and attempted to slow him down. “You’re not gonna… you’re not about to kill yourself, are you?”

“Can’t read the future.” Scorpius quickened his pace. “Who knows what’s about to happen?”

“Albus does!”

That managed to stop Scorpius in his tracks.

Carefully, James released the back of Scorpius’ shirt. “You wouldn’t do that to him, would you?”

“I don’t know.”

James moved to stand in front of Scorpius again, holding his hands out like he was approaching a wild animal. “He loves you, you know. I mean, he’s  _ in  _ love with you. This would kill him.”

Scorpius considered for a moment. He shook his head. “Then don’t tell him.” He only managed to take one more step before a spell his him square in the chest, knocking him down flat.

“No fucking way am I letting this happen.” James levitated Scorpius’ immobile body and began marching back home. “We’ll do whatever, alright? We’ll figure something out. You’re not dying, though. That’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard. I thought you were supposed to be smart.” He continued grumbling until they were back inside. He sat Scorpius down on the sofa, still immobile. “That was the worst suicide attempt I’ve ever seen.” He flicked his wand at Scorpius’ chest, releasing the spell. “Were you even really trying?”

“It’s a war of attrition, James,” Scorpius replied once he could. “I have so much time. Plus, I only have to succeed once, don’t I? You’d have to succeed indefinitely.”

That seemed to rattle James a bit. “I… Merlin,  _ what? _ What is it you want, Malfoy? What exactly do you  _ want  _ to be doing?”

Scorpius took a moment to think about it, wanting to say what he meant. “I want to be out of my mind.”

“Well done, then,” James retorted, annoyed.

“This world is so slow. Being forced to interact with it… it’s depressing.”

_ “You’re  _ depressing, blimey.” James hid his face in his hands. “Like Edgar Allan Poe over here, fucking depressing, mate.”

Scorpius didn’t respond. Something deep in his psyche was very clearly broken, but that was slightly less terrifying than the thought of living any longer in his current state. “It’s like terminal illness, I think,” he spoke up eventually. “Becoming an Oracle.”

“You- but… You managed for years, why aren’t you dead?” James gaped at him. “Why now? Once you’re my responsibility, why do you suddenly turn into…” He gestured vaguely at Scorpius’ whole body.  _ “This?” _

Scorpius thought about it for a moment. “Veritaserum.”

James inhaled slowly. Scorpius could practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he worked through what that meant. “What do you mean?” Seems he failed.

“It does something weird to our brains. Shuts everything down, I guess. Everything except the Oracle.”

“That’s horrible.” James looked stunned.

Horrible? No no. The opposite. “It wasn’t horrible.”

“That’s arguably worse than death. You don’t even remember anything that happened these past years, what’s the difference between Veritaserum and death?”

Scorpius wasn’t sure whether or not he was supposed to answer truthfully or if the question was mostly rhetorical. “A body, I guess,” he answered anyway. “To you, anyway. But to the person who’s dying, I suppose the difference depends on whether an afterlife exists. If not, then Veritaserum is literally infinitely better. Assuming you value existence. If there  _ is  _ an afterlife, then what’s the difference between normality and death? That’s a whole other philosophical argument, and I don’t think it’s important anyway.” He cocked his head, realizing something. “Plus, you can always pull me out of Veritaserum. So you could think of it more like stasis than death.”

James stood quietly for a breath before sitting down on the sofa next to Scorpius. “You’re an odd bloke.”

“Will you help me?” Scorpius looked to James earnestly, his last real hope on the line.

James sighed. “Shit. Fuck me, I guess.”

Scorpius smiled, the weight on his chest lessening somewhat. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *some metaphor about legalizing marijuana*
> 
> Is that what this story's about?
> 
> I dunno, man. Sounds like the ramblings of some scattered psychonaut to me.
> 
> It's probably gonna make sense eventually.


	12. Catharsis

Hogwarts was odd. Like it wasn’t quite real. Like it was just a cheap fake someone had built in its place, hoping people would be fooled. The portraits no longer met Albus’ mental requirements for personhood, he could see through their paint and enchantment to the script they followed behind. Just an illusion, it was. Not real people. The ghosts, too. It was like they were missing some sort of sentience. Surely, they were conscious. But sentient? They seemed hollow. Like sketches.

Conversely, the House Elves gained personhood in Albus’ mind. Suddenly, he looked into their eyes without prejudice or ego, and he realized how right his aunt had been. They were people. They were slaves. The Oracles all seemed to have this understanding, which lead to a strange new culture within the walls of Hogwarts. Not like school had been at all. Everything seemed so… benevolent.

For the first time left to their own devices without Veritaserum, Albus watched how the Oracles’ society actually ran. It seemed the present-sighted Oracles did most of the work. Cooking, cleaning, and general parental tasks fell to them. They seemed to enjoy it, even. The retrograde Oracles explored the dungeons, gathering materials to brew a fresh new batch of Veritaserum. The anterograde Oracles, Albus’ group, were generally responsible for protecting the perimeter. Not that it was much needed in Hogwarts, but they did it seemingly out of habit, wandering around outdoors like lost lunatics. After a few days of it, Albus began to get the sense that he was sorted again into a new house. Distinct personality traits of the different types of Oracles became apparent. The present-sighted Oracles were hyperactive, intensely focussed on any menial task, and generally very friendly to be around. However, they did have a tendency to talk  _ a lot,  _ which often times got overwhelming. Beta was a perfect example of this. He sat next to Albus whenever they ate meals, babbling on at length about strange concepts in philosophy or whatever caught his attention at the moment. The retrograde Oracles were depressive, very stuck in their own heads, and reminded Albus vaguely of savants in their abilities to create music or art or potions, even though they tended to respond very little to outside stimuli, and were often uncomfortable to talk to. It struck Albus how very much like that Scorpius had always been. His occasional bold lack of social skills, his obsessive study habits, his introversion. Maybe your innate personality had something to do with which type of Oracle syndrome you developed. Maybe it was all determined by how your brain already worked before time travelling. Maybe only certain types of brains even  _ could  _ develop the syndrome in the first place. Finally witnessing Oracle society left Albus with more questions than answers.

Then, there was Albus with the anterograde Oracles, all of whom expressed a similar insanity. Lacking the energy of the present-sighted and the rationality of the retrogrades, the anterograde Oracles struggled to connect to the world around them. Confused to a bizarre degree, they reacted emotionally to everything. In a particularly scattered moment, Albus had come under the distinct impression that he was attempting to live as an adult inside of a brain rapidly regressing to babyhood. Maybe it was because thinking about the past was so difficult for him, but Albus was pretty sure he’d only recently even been born. All of the knowledge in his head, therefore, was a bit much for the newly forming neural pathways in his brain. Everything felt like a brand new experience, and it got exhausting.

Albus lay in his new favorite spot, just below a large tree by the lake. He was staring at the sky, absolutely stunned. For no reason, and about nothing really, he was profoundly dazzled.

“How’s it goin’, boy?” Beta sat down next to him. “Feelin’ good?”

Albus held out his hand, wanting to feel connected.

Beta laughed and took his hand. “It’s calming down here, huh? Everybody’s seeming used to it.”

Albus took a deep breath, nodding silently as he gripped Beta’s hand tight.

“Any news y’all got about what’s happening next?”

Albus shook his head. His mind was entirely void of thought. Any time he even tried to think of something, it splintered and he lost track of whatever he’d been attempting to do. So rather than struggle through confusion, he was choosing to allow his mind to become vacant. It was euphoric.

“You know, I gotta say, you do a good job of not going crazy.” Beta grinned down at Albus. “You’re handling this pretty well. Some of them, maybe they’re too young when they turn, they go kinda bananas, you know? Get all messed up. You’re doing good, though. Doing good.”

“I feel crazy,” Albus muttered. “Can’t… think.”

Beta chuckled. “Naw, man. That’s not what crazy means. Everybody’s fucked up in the head in one way or another, ya know? It’s just whether or not you can keep from showing it outside. ‘Specially when the inside of your head is so expansive, ‘specially if your thinking is abnormal. It’s harder to keep from showing it, so if you manage to keep it under wraps, that means you’re  _ less  _ crazy than everyone else, get it? You’re facing more and holding back more. You’re doing good.”

Albus didn’t think that was right, but he wasn’t really sure of anything. “Is anyone… anyone here… is everyone conscious? What happened… er… Delphini? Delphi. The Oracle of Delphi. Did anyone ever just shut down permanently?”

Beta was quiet for a moment. “I gotta tell you something, Albus Potter. You may think there’s no free will. You and the other antero-retrograde Oracles may believe in predestiny, but I don’t. Lemme tell you why. The only reason there is choice, real choice, is because of emotion. Perfectly logical beings make no real decisions. They only can identify the best play. Choices  _ are  _ our emotions, okay? It’s all about how we react to experiences. It’s all about how we remember things. So… yeah, you can make a real, free-willed choice in life. You can choose to pay attention to this world, feeling like an active, free being, or you can go inside and not pay attention to the world at all.

Yeah. There’s Oracles that shut down, man. There are. It’s a choice any of us can make. For some people, this universe is too big. For some, it’s too small. They just want to move freely within their own minds, their own little universe. So they choose not to participate in reality. Lots of us here are like that. That’s what the Veritaserum’s for, ya know? It makes our minds more accessible. Makes it so we can really understand our own thoughts. It’s a lot easier to live in an Oracle’s mind if you’re not fighting against your human mental limitations. So we take the Veritaserum, and our minds become unlimited. We can tell ourselves the truth and understand it.

Shutting down means that when on Veritaserum, you become alive. You become clear and like a god of your own little world. But when off Veritaserum, all you can do is live in the world in your head. Some people prefer it. It’s easier. Happier. You can make whatever choice you want, Albus Potter. That’s always your free will.”

Albus could barely breathe, everything was so complicated. “I just want… I wanna move on. Wanna be done. Don’t wanna live in the past anymore. Blank slate, yeah? I wanna just… new life.”

“Mhm.” Beta nodded slowly, like he was listening to jazz. “Okay, I hear ya. Ya know, it’s okay to be crazy, too. If you need to. You can let yourself go sometimes, too.”

Albus wasn’t fully convinced he’d  _ ever  _ held it together. Still, something about being given permission calmed the anxiety in his chest. His mind spun, and he lost track of everything. For an undefined amount of time, nothing registered in Albus’ mind. A profound lack of knowledge consumed him, and he only managed to snap out of it when he was abruptly forced into a sitting position.

“Don’t choke. Drink this.”

Albus was vaguely aware of someone pouring some sweet-tasting liquid into his mouth. He swallowed obediently, never once thinking to refuse or question the sudden demand.

Like stepping into the world for the first time, everything switched on. Instead of knowing nothing, Albus found he knew everything. Just like before.

“A-am I supposed t-to-”

“Yeah, just stand guard, kid.”

Through his perfect knowledge, Albus failed to identify what was happening. He could see the future, but nothing that was currently going on made any kind of sense.

“I-I just- I just look after him, r-right?”

“Right. And don’t ask him any questions.”

“G-got it.”

A loud bang, and there was one less person in the room. Albus wasn’t sure where they’d gone, or even what room he was in. He just knew that there was one less presence. For whatever reason.

“Hey, Albus.” The stuttering voice grew calm. “It’s me, Henry. From school. I’m not sure if you understand me or anything, but I’m gonna be watching out for you, okay?”

Confused, Albus scanned the future for whatever time the present was. He couldn’t find it.

“Isn’t it funny I can talk to you without stuttering? Like animals. I don’t stutter when I talk to animals. I can talk to you. Because I don’t think you can understand me, probably. Doesn’t seem like you know what’s going on, mate.”

That was true. Albus had no idea.

“But I’m supposed to keep talking to you anyway. Your dad wants me to. He seems to think you’ll get better if we can just talk you out of it. He thinks it’s a psychological break from whatever drugs you all did in America. I think so too, but we don’t really know, ya know? We’re just guessing. I gotta tell you, pretty much the whole world thinks you guys are a failed suicide cult. They think you took some poison and that’s why you’re like this. I dunno. I remember you from school. You were kinda the one we all thought was a druggie. You always seemed a little off. I thought you were cool. Even though you’re stupid. Because you didn’t care. About anyone. Well, Scorpius. Sorry about him.”

Albus tried to remember where his body was. He wanted to move. Stand up and figure things out. But he couldn’t. He had no idea where his limbs were.

“Do things actually feel different for you? Now that you’re on Veritaserum again? Nobody can tell on people who’ve shut down like you. We’re not sure if it even does anything. Not like the active ones. They get much less agitated on Veritaserum. But you’re not doing anything different. Just sitting there. Are you even going to notice when Scorpius comes back?”

Albus caught onto that sentence. Back? From where? When? Where were they? Still at Hogwarts?

“And you’ll get to meet your nephew. That’s exciting.”

Albus lost track again. That sentence didn’t make sense. Nephew? Maybe Henry wasn’t talking to him. With that thought in mind, he let himself fly back into the future, where he could play amongst the stars in the sky. It wasn’t important anyway, the present. He didn’t need to worry about what it might mean. Much larger, much more relevant was the future. Albus needn’t listen to anyone in the present ever again.

 

*******

 

“Alright, bruv, you sure about this?” James sat down on the sofa next to Scorpius, a small bottle of clear liquid clutched in his hand.

“Surer than anything.” Scorpius took the bottle from him and uncapped it. “Each second here is an eternity.” And so, without waiting for even one more second, Scorpius downed the entire contents of the bottle in one gulp. It tasted like nothing. Maybe slightly sweet.

It took only moments to kick in.

The present and future erased themselves from existence. Almost 14 billion years, that was Scorpius’ kingdom. The crushing sadness that had been engulfing him for weeks finally evaporated, and he felt free.

He woke up in a small, blue room.

“Alright, it should be fading any second. When he’s conscious, you can explain to him what’s happening.”

Scorpius looked around, confused. “Am I dead?”

“James, look he’s awake. That was fast.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t take long.”

Scorpius wasn’t sure of much, but he was pretty sure he was at the end of time. He couldn’t conceive of a moment beyond the current one. “I’m dead…”

“You’re not, you’re in quarantine.”

For some reason, that made sense. “Again? Round…”

“Yes, well… We figured we’d let you talk to everyone.”

What? Everyone? “What do you mean?” Who was everyone?

“Maybe we should give him a moment,” a calm, familiar voice spoke up. “He seems confused.”

There was silence for a very long time.

“Er… Yeah. He is. A bit. A lot.”

There was another long silence.

“He… ah… I don’t think waiting is going to help.”

“Scorpius.”

Scorpius was suddenly made aware of the fact that he had hands. Someone was holding his.

“Do you know where we’ve brought you?”

“Hogwarts.” Scorpius stared into a pair of concerned, gray eyes that looked far too familiar. He couldn’t place it. “Quarantine.”

“That’s right. Do you remember how you got here?”

Of course. It had happened. Therefore, he knew about it. “By floo.”

“Good. He seems fine now.”

Another long silence.

“James-”

“Wha- no way! I’m done being involved, this is all depressing.”

“Just-”

_ “Hell  _ no. I don’t wanna talk to him, this shit gives me nightmares. Look at his eyes, does that seem “fine” to you?”

“Oi-”

“Look, I’m sorry. But I really can’t be involved any more than I already am. I feel like I’ve been living with a dead body in my house, it’s fucked up. You know my feelings on this, I thought I was clear-”

“Stop it.”

“No, hold on,” the voice holding Scorpius’ hand spoke up again. “I’d like to hear your point of view, James.”

Another short moment of silence. “Mr. Malfoy, I’m really sorry about this. I don’t want to upset you or anything, but I stand by what I’ve said before. Scorpius is gone. That’s an empty shell. It’s sick, I know, to think that way, but it’s true. He answers- he- he gives these prophecies, or… or whatever, but that’s  _ it.  _ He doesn’t talk, not really. He doesn’t understand what’s going on, he’s just…  _ empty.  _ I’ve woken him up off of Veritaserum several times, he never comes back. He doesn’t even-” a frustrated grunt. “Here, I’ll show you.” Brown eyes looked into Scorpius’. “Hey, Scorpius. What’s your name?”

Huh. Scorpius stared, lost for words. “I don’t know.” That was strange, right? He should know.

“Where is your father?”

“I don’t know.” Scorpius looked around the blue room, saw the people standing there, and recognized none of them. Human shapes that didn’t quite stick in his head.

_ “Who  _ is your father?”

“Draco Malfoy.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s his birthday?”

“The fifth of June, 1980.”

“How old is he now?”

“I don’t know.”

“What did he name you?”

“Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy.”

“What’s your name?”

“I don’t know.”

Finally, there was silence. The questions stopped. Scorpius struggled to understand what had just happened. Something was wrong, he could tell, but he didn’t know quite what. “I don’t know when I am,” he concluded aloud.

“And this is why I think we shouldn’t introduce him to Al.”

“What, you mean Albus is different?”

“Albus recognizes us. He doesn’t really know anything about us, but he recognizes us. By name, even. He would recognize Scorpius, too, we can’t do that to him.”

An indignant huff. “James, you’re being an idiot.”

“Wha- no I’m not.”

“You can’t just decide for them, it’s not your place. Al  _ asks  _ for him. He doesn’t ask for anything, but he  _ asks  _ for Scorpius. You don’t just get to withhold that because you’re worried about his feelings. He has every right to experience heartbreak and loss. Plus, who’s to say he’ll even feel that way? Maybe this will actually make them happy. You don’t know what’s in their heads.”

“They’re not lucid, Lily, they-”

“Who cares? Has Albus even ever been lucid? Ignore my brother, let’s bring him in.”

The people in the room all moved around, which startled Scorpius a bit. He was losing track of the situation rapidly.

Then- oh, okay. Familiar. Warm and familiar, he found himself wrapped in someone’s arms.

 

*******

 

“Who cares? Has Albus even ever been lucid?” Lily screeched.

James smirked, conceding that point. But, still-

“Ignore my brother, let’s bring him in.” She turned away from James sharply and gestured at Madam Pomfrey to open the door.

James watched helplessly while everyone stepped hastily out of the way as Albus dashed into the room. He made a beeline right for Scorpius and yanked the poor kid to his feet and into a tight embrace without any word of warning.

“I love you,” Albus announced, not letting go.

“I fucking knew it,” Harry whispered.

“Wha…?” Scorpius gasped as Albus let him go. “What’s… What’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Albus frowned at him. “Do you know?”

“No.”

James had to look away. It made him feel sick to see his brother like that. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. There should be a way to fix this… But there wasn’t. So as far as James was concerned, Albus and Scorpius had never come back from Yellowstone. It was a cop out, and he knew it. He wasn’t supposed to just give up on people like that. Still, his family’s continued delusion that Albus was fixable, that Scorpius wasn’t vacant, kept him fighting the good fight. He needed to convince them to give up. Just a little. “Do you see what I mean?” He whispered to his dad.

“What do you want me to do about it, James?” Harry snapped. “We can’t exactly just release them into the wild, can we?”

“That’s  _ exactly  _ what we should do,” James insisted. “Put them all back in Yellowstone. Obliviate the entire world if you have to, but we should  _ absolutely  _ just release them into the wild.”

“That’s your brother you’re talking about,” Harry snapped. “You two may not get along, but-”

“It’s not about that!” James interrupted, stunned. “It has nothing to do with whether or not I love my brother, it’s about being kind to them!” He swallowed around the lump in his throat as he tried to come up with the words to convince his dad- to convince  _ anyone-  _ to see things his way. “We’re not bringing them back. They’re not going to just suddenly revert back to normal, that much is clear. So we have to do what’s best for them, don’t we?” He hated arguing. It always felt pointless, anyway. However, with so much at stake, James had been doing nothing but arguing as of late. “This idea- bringing them all into the Ministry- it’s doomed to fail. Or… I dunno, cause World War Three. Don’t you think Albus has had enough of almost causing World War Three? Can’t we just let him rest?”

“That’s not-” Harry began.

“Mum?” James turned to his mother for help.

Ginny just shook her head mutely, staring dully at her younger son. James was getting worried about her. She’d been so quiet lately, clearly the whole situation was taking its toll. In the beginning, she had been fighting with all her might. Now, she just seemed sad.

Harry, on the other hand, still flat out denied that it was anything more than a temporary problem. His excuses ranged from blaming it on drugs to blaming it on Voldemort, and nothing seemed able to shatter his belief that Albus would wake up one day as his old self.

“How much longer can we keep them at Hogwarts?” Draco spoke up.

“Just two more weeks,” Madam Pomfrey replied from just outside the quarantine room.

“I’d like to see any notes you have on the progression of this illness.” Draco’s voice was monotonous. He was still fighting, but James wondered how long it would be before he officially gave up.

“Of course.” Madam Pomfrey dashed away to go retrieve them. She was the only one who seemed to almost enjoy the situation. Perhaps it was medically interesting.

James left the room. He didn’t want to be around them. At least with Scorpius finally being reunited with the others, James would be able to get back to his family. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. About Albus. Strange, it had been so gripping in the beginning. When Albus first began to develop his “abilities.” It had been interesting to watch the drama, the progression, the fighting over custody. However horrible, it was at least entertaining. Now, he was just bored. Every day, some new bizarre thing going on. Some new political strategy or housing system or psychotic conversation with his brother. It was repetitive. Nothing seemed crazy when everything was. He just wanted to go back to normal life, and if that meant leaving Albus’ hopeless case alone, then so be it.

It really was hopeless. James sighed to himself as he stepped outside into the bright summer day. If he thought there was even a chance to fix the whole situation, he would try. He would still be fighting harder than his parents. If they really thought bringing back the Oracles was a  possibility, then they were half-assing their struggle.

He smirked. That’s it, then. They know. Harry, Ginny, Draco, they all know. They know there’s no chance. Maybe they’re just unable to admit it to themselves, or maybe they don’t want anyone else to think they’ve given up. But somewhere inside, they already know it’s too late.

Grief. They were grieving. In their own ways, on their own time. James frowned, uncomfortable with that realization. It humanized his parents in a disconcerting way. Maybe they weren’t quite the pillars of battle-hardened integrity that he’d always somewhat worshipped. Maybe they were just people struggling to cope with the loss of their son.

Shit.

He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated by his sudden empathy. It wasn’t about Albus anymore. Albus was beyond their plane. He was halfway to oblivion. It was about mourning and moving on. It was about whatever rituals his parents needed to perform to make themselves feel better about the situation.

Albus was fine. From Albus’ perspective, it had been a quick and quiet slide into insanity. He hadn’t really been able to comprehend what was happening to him, and he was perfectly happy in his utter ignorance. Hell, he’d probably been happy  _ during  _ the slide into insanity. After all, he’d imposed madness on himself for  _ years  _ before any of this ever happened. From Albus’ perspective, happy lunacy simply faded to non-existance. He was fine.

Scorpius, too, was fine now. Maybe it was a bit more tragic from his perspective. After all, he’d been a smart, ambitious kid. Regardless, he had been standing on the tail-end of depression begging to return to oblivion when James had given him the Veritaserum. He had requested his own end. Now, his memories and personality wiped, he was at least not in pain anymore.

Harry and Ginny Potter had a vastly different experience. They were two parents who had struggled for years to keep their son alive. Albus didn’t exactly make that easy. They struggled for years, and he still slipped through their fingertips. Of course Harry wanted to blame it on drugs or teenage rebellion. That would make the story so much easier. Albus fucked up, despite his parent’s constant warnings and offers to help. What an easily digestible tale. Or even blaming it on Delphini (and by extension Voldemort) would be easier than accepting the truth. But even that wasn’t truly honest. The truth was, nobody was to blame. Nobody planned this, nobody expected it to happen, and nobody even inadvertently caused it. Sure, blame it on time travel. But that wasn’t exactly Albus’ fault either. Firstly, he had no idea time travel could even  _ cause  _ Oracles. Secondly, he probably saved the world in his own, bumbling way. Delphini was gone because of Albus and that was absolutely a good thing. So, this? It’s just shit. It’s nobody’s fault, but it’s shit.

Harry and Ginny Potter were having to cope with losing Albus and had nobody to blame.

Worse still, Albus and Scorpius weren’t dead.

How much easier would everything have been if they had dropped dead in Yellowstone? The families would have had bodies to bury and would have been left with no hope. Hope was hurting them. Their last, irrational hopes were eating them alive.

James sat down on the grass and leaned against a rock, shaking his head as he realized who he felt worst for.

From Draco Malfoy’s perspective, this was absolute hell. He’d fought to shield his son from all those hateful rumours that had been floating around at the time of his birth. At school, Scorpius had been taunted relentlessly. Then the poor kid had been swept along in a scheme that resulted in the death of Voldemort’s  _ actual  _ child, which had resulted in the deconstruction of Scorpius’ formerly brilliant mind. And it was all so unexpected. Draco must be breathless, stunned by the continued plot-twists in his life that resulted in the death of both his son and wife as well as the imprisonment of both his mother and father.

At least Harry and Ginny had entertained the idea that Albus might not… You know. Live.

Scorpius was such a good kid. He always did the right thing, always followed the rules, there was no way Draco ever expected him to just switch off one day.

James had definitely thought that about Albus. He’d more than entertained the idea that Albus wouldn’t outlast his parents. As horrible as it sounded, it wasn’t altogether unexpected. At least, if you were going to place a bet on which of Albus’ graduating class wouldn’t make it past thirty, you wouldn’t put your money on Scorpius. Albus was definitely a contender.

“Hello.” Lily sat down next to him. “You okay?”

James shook his head. “It’s fucked up, Lils.”

“Mhm.” Lily sighed. “They just need answers. The problem is we know nothing. There’s so many other Oracles, but this is the first time anyone’s ever witnessed the progression. It’d be nice if we had a medical textbook to read.”

“I just don’t want to have to think about it anymore.”

Lily was quiet for a long time before she spoke. “It’s a tough philosophical question, I think. What is better? Consciousness with pain, or painless unconsciousness? I think people should have the right to choose which one they prefer. But what if the person making the choice is unstable or they’ve gone mad? Do we take them at their word or do we decide what’s best for them? What gives us the right to decide either way? And who takes the action? I think about how you told me Scorpius tried to kill himself. I think about that a lot. Is there a moral difference between him taking the action to kill himself and you taking the action to drown his lucid brain in Veritaserum? What if he asked you to kill him? Is there a moral difference between you casting the spell and him casting the spell?”

James didn’t want to hear anymore questions. “Lily-”

“No, wait.” She held up her hand. “I’ve come to a conclusion that suits me. Maybe it will suit you.”

That piqued James’ interest. He shut up.

“All of this makes sense if you understand what the human brain even is.” She smiled. “We’re not souls. We’re not spirits or ghosts or beings who can live beyond our bodies. There are no absolute morals. There isn’t always a right choice. Sometimes there’s not even a best choice. Or a least worst choice. Sometimes it’s just a choice between one horrible thing and another. But you can’t just stand there and not make a choice. That would be the ultimate worst thing to do. To force ourselves to continue living in this stasis, waiting for the answer to present itself, we’re starving. We need to make a choice and move forward. Either we can keep our psychotic, brain-dead brother with us forever, stopping our lives to defend him from people who want to use him, or we let him go and what happens happens. Self preservation is not a crime. Do you want Hank to grow up under Fidelius? Maybe it’s time to sacrifice your brother for the sake of your son.”

“Tell that to Mum and Dad.”

“They’re not ready to hear it.”

James nodded. “Thanks, Lils.”

“No problem, big brother. Why don’t you go home? You look ill.”

James sighed and stood. “Yeah. I will. Go spend time with Lisa and Hank.”

“Take down the Fidelius. Tell a stranger where you live. Do catharsis somehow.”

James grinned. “Sounds good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drawing to a conclusion soon. Thanks for waiting, this chapter got me a little tripped... took some time...


	13. Conclusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “What’s this?” Harry looked down at the stack of papers Lily dumped unceremoniously onto his lap.  
> “Declassified information about The Pythia Project,” Lily said with a smile. “Well, the brochure is from the Ministry. I just finished going over them with Mr. Malfoy, I need you to approve where we mentioned Al by name.”  
> Harry flipped through a few pages, frowning. “Why? It’s fine if you mention him. Everyone knows he was involved.”  
> Lily gave a small shrug. “Mr. Malfoy redacted Scorpius’ name a couple times. He didn’t want people knowing about the threats he made against that girl called Agbala.”  
> “Albus didn’t do anything like that, did he?”  
> “No, but please look them over anyway, I just need your and Mum’s signatures.” Lily gave a long suffering sigh.  
> “Yes, alright.” Harry gave in. “I don’t care what you write about him so long as it’s true.”  
> “You’re not required to redact anything.” Lily rolled her eyes. “It’s just a legal thing, please Dad.”  
> “I’m doing it, I’m doing it.” He flipped through a couple more pages. “Who drew this odd picture?”  
> “Read the documents!” Lily groaned. “Just… read the documents and sign them when you’re done. Anywhere you don’t want Albus mentioned, cross his name out. That’s all I’m asking.”  
> “I feel as if you’ve given me homework. Do you have a quill I can borrow?”  
> Lily sighed again and handed him a quill. “I’ll be back in half an hour, alright? Please just get it done.”  
> “Yes ma’am.” Harry saluted her with the quill. “Anything to finally put Pythia to rest.”

**Oracle Syndrome**

 

A rare condition characterized by clairvoyance in one direction of time along with profound lack of sentience regarding other chronological information. This condition is categorized into three distinct subtypes: anterograde, retrograde, and contemporaneous. Oracles are compelled to respond to questions they have the ability to answer, which makes them a target and a resource for many. For this reason, specific information about individual Oracles, and any information deemed by the Ministry to be sensitive is not discussed in this informational pamphlet. 

 

**Causes**

 

Oracle syndrome is thought to be a reaction to extreme time acceleration, most typically through time travel. It can also be caused by exposure to extraordinary gravity or speed, which causes time dilation and thus initiates the onset of oracle syndrome. It is unknown what mechanism causes the symptoms of oracle syndrome, which are severe and debilitating.

 

**Subtypes and Symptoms**

 

Anterograde:

Characterized by the ability to see the future. Anterograde Oracles are highly prone to develop a secondary condition of catatonia. People with this subtype tend to display irrational behaviors, struggle to connect with reality, and are severely compromised in their abilities to perform executive functions. Described as “infantile” by some caretakers, anterograde Oracles are highly dependant and require assistance with many aspects of day-to-day life.

 

Retrograde:

Characterized by the ability to see the past. Retrograde Oracles are somewhat prone to catatonia, and are most prone to experience psychosomatic issues, or visceral hallucinations. Over time, these symptoms lessen. Another characteristic of this subtype is severe depression. For this reason, retrograde Oracles have the highest mortality rates of the three subtypes.

 

Contemporaneous:

Characterized by omniscience of the present moment. Contemporaneous Oracles are not known to become catatonic; rather, an over-abundance of energy is their hallmark. This subtype is highly prone to hallucinations, and a large percentage of contemporaneous Oracles surveyed were misdiagnosed with schizophrenia at some point in their lives.

 

**Treatment and Yellowstone Controversy**

 

During the world-famous discovery of an undisclosed number of Oracles living at Yellowstone Park, it was found that the Oracles used Veritaserum as a treatment for their symptoms. Oracles react to Veritaserum differently than the average person. It removes all filters in an Oracles brain, allowing for free flow of information through neural pathways. Essentially, it shuts down thought and allows the Oracle to observe the full scope of time in their direction, respective of subtype. They become unable to communicate other than responding to questions, and become either unaware of or disinterested in their surroundings. For this reason, the use of Veritaserum with Oracles is currently an issue of much controversy. While the Oracles themselves almost universally insist that it’s the best option, it leaves them much more debilitated than before.

It is also worth mentioning that some experts are speculating that the Yellowstone Commune may have not been quite the bastion of innocent freedom that others are claiming. It is possible that the Oracles of Yellowstone simply got addicted to Veritaserum as a recreational drug, and are falsely claiming medicinal benefits despite the clear disadvantages. While this theory is unsubstantiated, there is very little credible information on the Yellowstone Commune, and so the Ministry is keeping this alternate theory under consideration as the debate continues.

Unfortunately, there is no known cure and no other known treatment for oracle syndrome. Fortunately, it is highly preventable by refraining from time-travel and/or interstellar space travel.

 

*******

 

**Property of St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries**

 

**Overseer:** Poppy Pomfrey, Healer, 2nd Degree; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

**Primary Healer:** Aceso Hoffman, Healer 1st Degree; Department of Spell Damage, fourth floor

**Mediwizards:** Henry Nott, Lily Potter, Lysander Scamander

 

The following is a declassified collection of documents from THE PYTHIA PROJECT, and hopes to better our understanding of oracle syndrome and the people who are affected by this rare and baffling condition.

 

**THE PYTHIA PROJECT:**

 

Brainchild of Overseer Poppy Pomfrey and healing student Lily Potter, The Pythia Project was an intensive, six month study of seven participating Oracles and their families. The study, broken into three parts, was conducted by a team of Healers and Mediwizards at St. Mungo’s.

The first of these three parts was on the effects of Veritaserum on Oracles. Lily Potter was the lead medic for this initial three month study. Many of Potter’s findings were subsequently published in journals of medicine around the globe, leading to her leaving the project two months early in order to tour many hospitals and research centers internationally, the keynote speaker for a series of medical conferences.

The second part of the project was focussed on the psychological aspect of the disease, and was conducted by Lysander Scamander, a healing student who specializes in abnormal brain functions. Scamander’s findings not only helped to advance understanding of oracle syndrome, but many mental illnesses common in both Wizarding and Muggle communities as well.

The third and final part, headed by Mediwizard Henry Nott, focussed on creating an accessible environment for Oracles, and lead to the design of [NAME REDACTED], an assisted living compound that caters to Oracles and their families. It is currently home to [NUMBER REDACTED] individuals, all of whom suffer from oracle syndrome.

The seven participants of the project were chosen when the [NUMBER REDACTED] Oracles of the Yellowstone Commune were moved from Hogwarts to a government facility. The seven were the only ones claimed by verified family members, and thus were the only ones eligible for the study.

 

**PART ONE: VERITASERUM STUDY**

The following is a collection of documents selected by lead medic Lily Potter. Some information may be redacted to preserve the identities of those involved. However, due to the near ubiquitous knowledge of their involvement, the Potter and Malfoy families’ names are left uncensored except in specific events deemed sensitive. The two families have read over the documents and approved the places their names are mentioned.

Disclaimer: Lily Potter is the sister of Albus Potter, one of the Oracles involved in the study. She did not personally administer any medications to him in order to prevent a conflict of interest. Instead, Henry Nott was primarily responsible for Albus Potter’s medical needs.

 

Notes:

 

Day 1:

Everyone arrived today safely from Hogwarts. I have personally seen that everyone is in their own beds with lights out. This took some doing, because Albus isn’t particularly keen on being alone. Nor is Scorpius for that matter, but he mostly stays where you put him. [NAME REDACTED] gave us some trouble when we wanted her to change into a hospital gown, but eventually consented with the encouragement of her mother. Three beds marked with red flags are the control group. Tomorrow, please DO NOT administer Veritaserum to any of them. Two beds marked with a blue flag are the placebo group, please give them sugar water ONLY at medication time tomorrow. Those two with green flags are the only ones who are to receive Veritaserum. For Merlin’s sake, don’t tell them which group they’re in. I know it’s probably going to be very obvious to us and to them, but we want a clean study so don’t corrupt my data.

 

Day 2:

Red and blue groups were not given their typical dose of Veritaserum today. Both groups displayed an increase in energy, and were more alert. Those with frequent catatonic episodes were more flexible and some spoke. More detailed notes on individual reactions in patient files. PLEASE READ THEM. I was particularly careful with my handwriting today, so you have no excuse. It’s important to mention here the major event of today, even though it’s also written in his patient file. Withdrawal from Veritaserum was expected, and this was not beyond what I had imagined. As you all know, at 11:30 AM, [NAME REDACTED] made several threats of harm towards Healers as well as towards himself. He is safe, as is everyone involved. If this happens again, DO NOT indulge his requests. Two weeks isn’t that long, he’ll be fine. Don’t give him Veritaserum, don’t listen to his father.

 

Day 3:

Interesting if sad to see the Oracles react to losing access to Veritaserum. I am beginning to construct hypotheses about next week, when none of them will be under its influence. My hesitant guess is that they will respond differently based on subtype. Generally speaking, the Oracles are responding negatively to the lack of Veritaserum. Although it’s painfully obvious to both us and them, PLEASE do not tell them which group they’re in.

 

Day 4:

It’s becoming apparent that Oracles without Veritaserum are difficult to manage. While Albus and [NAME REDACTED] were mostly quiet (although they did wander off quite a lot. Let’s work on that.), the rest were chaos. Emotional fluctuation, confusion, and distressed catatonia were the hallmarks of today. I don’t want to have to sedate them, but if we get another suicide/self harm threat, we will have to. Repeat, IF ANYONE THREATENS TO HURT THEMSELF, SEDATE THEM.

In other news: I feel like a prison warden, but I have to instate a new rule. The Oracles are no longer allowed to touch each other for five minutes after taking Veritaserum. For those of you who weren’t around, the short version is that we discovered today that Veritaserum sticks to the inside of your mouth for a little while after you swallow. So as much as I loathe to be the one to separate Scorpius from my brother, he made it clear today that it’s necessary. I still don’t know if he was intentionally attempting to dose himself or if he’s just an enthusiastic kisser, but since we don’t yet know the minimum effective dose of Veritaserum, we can’t allow for even the possibility of corruption in this study. This can’t happen again.

 

Day 5:

Almost done with the first week, good job so far everyone. In terms of truly dramatic events, today was relatively calm. One interesting thing I have to note was when giving Scorpius and [NAME REDACTED] the placebo. Despite their apparent knowledge that it’s not real, both still take the sugar water with a sort of desperation. As if they’re hoping that it will be real this time. My moral qualms about Veritaserum are in furious debate. This looks very much like addict behavior, but if you were stranded in a desert and someone handed you water, would you not drink with the same look in your eyes? It’s only too obvious that Veritaserum has an effect on their brains, so I’m anxious to get started on next week when we can really begin to weigh the benefits against the detriments.

 

Day 6:

Henry, I don’t know why Albus was on the first floor, and I have no proof that you did anything wrong, but I’m not going to be polite if I see it again. They CANNOT interact with the public. I’ve requested better locking charms, and I suggest placing barriers in front of the door. The Oracles didn’t seem to notice that I concealed the door behind a glamour, but I don’t enjoy searching blank walls for a concealed door and I know none of you do either. The door is visible again, but be on alert from now on. Thank you.

Today was calm. Only minor difficulties with the retrograde Oracles attempting blackmail for drugs. We sorted it out and everyone’s calm now.

 

Day 7:

This concludes the first week of the Veritaserum study. Albus and [NAME REDACTED] took their last dose today with no event. Tomorrow, we officially start observing the differences between subtypes. My conclusion for this week is that Veritaserum has a distinct and positive effect on Oracles, and this effect cannot be explained by placebo. Word of warning for tomorrow, we’re going to have two more Oracles coming down off Veritaserum, and I can’t imagine it will be easy. Here’s where my insider knowledge of what Albus is like may come in handy. Watch him, please. He will run away or steal things if given the chance. I’ve spoken with [NAME REDACTED]’s mother, and she has assured me that [NAME REDACTED] was always a quiet and well-behaved girl. Don’t let that bring your guard down, remember she’s also psychotic and will be off her meds. Good luck tomorrow, everyone!

 

Day 8:

Having officially started the behavior study, it’s finally appropriate for me to say what we’re all thinking: the Oracles behave differently based on subtype. It’s become pretty obvious that the anterogrades are what I’d call “true psychotic.” Disjointed speech, minimal recognition of reality, poor eye gaze. The retrogrades are severe depressives ranging from sadness to anger, and are pretty convincing speakers when they’re not catatonic. Don’t let them talk you into things. I’ve also noticed obsessive tendencies in them, but I don’t have enough data to say definitively that it’s due to their subtype. The contemporaneous Oracles are hyperactive, and I’ve noticed their speech pattern is frantic. Disjointed, like the anterogrades, but always talking about real things. They are the most connected to reality, but tend to jump from thought to thought with minimal carry-through. I suppose it makes sense that their thinking would be instant-to-instant.

 

Day 9:

I don’t have many notes for today. Keep them away from dangerous terrain. This includes windows.

 

Day 10:

[EVENTS REDACTED]

 

Day 11:

I know everyone’s shaken up, but we can get through this. Only four more days before they’re all back on Veritaserum. [NAME REDACTED] is recovering, and he’s expected to be up and walking around by tomorrow. They need to remain segregated from now until at least the first day of Veritaserum. We can’t have this happen again, we absolutely cannot. [NAME REDACTED] is in counselling, and she seems to be doing better. Of course, she’s traumatized and I have assured both her and her mother that she will not come in contact with [NAME REDACTED] again. If you see anyone make even vague threats towards someone, put a stop to it before it spirals.

 

Day 12:

Merlin’s beard. Almost done. If we had even a few more days of this, I’d consider stopping the study due to ethical concerns. For the record, I’ll explain some of the events. Violence is increasing as the Oracles attempt to cope with their mental states. We had one major incident today in which two Oracles broke a window and wound up cutting themselves on the glass. Protests are getting more desperate, and I think we’re all ready to move on to the next phase.

 

Day 13:

Tomorrow is the last day. Again for the record, let me emphasise the chaos. The Oracles are fighting to get back on Veritaserum. These fights are getting increasingly violent as time goes on. I anxiously await the day after tomorrow.

 

Day 14:

Final day! Everyone is wary, thinking I’m lying to them about giving them Veritaserum tomorrow. However, despite doubts, today was much more calm. The anterograde Oracles tried to leave the study floor, but were confused by the lack of a doorknob. It was a push door. I can’t believe that’s all we had to do to confuse them into staying. Everyone is now safely in bed with their isolation spells in place so they can’t get to each other. Tomorrow will be better.

 

Day 15:

Everyone was calm. The difference today was stark. I don’t have much to say besides thank goodness. I think this week will be a good one.

 

Day 16:

No change, no event.

 

Day 17:

No change, no event.

 

Day 18:

I’m removing the barriers between the Oracles. I believe they won’t try to hurt each other anymore.

 

Day 19:

Everybody leave Albus and Scorpius alone. They’re adults. That’s all I have to say.

 

Day 20:

No change, no event.

 

Day 21:

Final day of the effectiveness study. This is my final note. Tomorrow, we start research into the mechanisms by which Veritaserum is effective. This week was calm and happy. It is now my firm belief that Veritaserum is the most effective medicine at our disposal when it comes to treating Oracles. Side effects include reduced cognitive ability, catatonia, and decreased executive functioning. Speaking for my family alone, it’s worth it.

 

**PART TWO: PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY**

The following is a collection of documents selected by lead medic Lysander Scamander. As above, information has been redacted where necessary in order to preserve the privacy of those involved in the study.

 

Notes:

 

I’m endlessly fascinated by the psychology of oracle syndrome. Beginning with introductory symptoms including vague visions, exhaustion, loss of consciousness, and catatonia, the disease progresses quickly into the full condition present in everyone here. One particularly interesting activity to do with the Oracles is drawing. They seem to enjoy it, and the pictures they draw are a great way to find out what’s in their heads. The anterogrades have a bit of trouble with it, but I’ve discovered that they are better at managing with larger drawing utensils like markers and crayons. Their hands don’t seem to grip as precisely as the others. I wonder why this is. I turn that question over to you, Lily. I think better than my notes, their artwork is a good descriptor of what it’s like for them. I’ll share the ones I think are interesting/representative along with my analysis.

 

 

This is a representative sketch by Scorpius Malfoy, a retrograde Oracle. Mathematical drawings are common. You can see he got pretty angry towards the end of drawing this, and wound up scribbling with a heavy hand that almost tore the paper. Note the arch shape in the bottom middle, partially obscured by the scribbling he did on the right side. All Oracle’s drawings have this shape. My best guess is that it’s actually a representation of their field of vision, and the shape is meant to be their nose. People always see their noses, but the brain learns to ignore it so it becomes invisible. My hypothesis is that Oracles are unable to ignore it, and so it only seems natural to them that they would draw it.

 

 

This is a representative drawing by [NAME REDACTED], an anterograde Oracle. They prefer markers to pencils since it makes it easier to grip with their dulled fine motor skills. This is the picture that made me realize what that shape was. We were sitting in the courtyard drawing what we saw, and that was the very first thing he put to paper. Another interesting thing to note is what appears to be seasonal progression on the tree. The sky also fades from night to day, which leads me to believe that this Oracle was actually seeing the courtyard over time.

 

 

This is a representative sketch by [NAME REDACTED], a contemporaneous Oracle. We were sitting on a bench facing a door with a sign that said “Break Room.” As you can see, she drew part of the sign. She also drew what I believe to be my eye on top of the sign, as well as my clipboard. Contemporaneous Oracles tend to draw fractions of objects. My running hypothesis is that it’s because they can only mentally process one instant at a time. When the average person looks at a sign, their eyes scan the whole thing, and the brain stitches together a mental picture. Since this subtype doesn’t understand time progression, they are only able to process the exact image they’re focussing on. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that many contemporaneous are unable to walk around on their own without becoming confused. They are essentially blind, but retain the ability to react to individual moments. This is also true for some blind people whose brains don’t process vision despite the fact that their eyes are otherwise functional. It’s called blindsight, and I believe that contemporaneous Oracles function this way.

 

At the end of these two months, my conclusion is as follows:

Anterograde Oracles experience the world as if it’s the very moment they were born. Brains are quite like putty, and every new experience is a fingernail tracing a line. If the experience is repeated, the line gets deeper. Eventually, you have a consistent groove that is difficult to squash out without destroying every other line it intersects with. These grooves are also the path of least resistance, and thought patterns (like water being poured over the putty) will flow with the grooves. Since babies haven’t yet had a chance to develop these grooves, they are easily overstimulated and get exhausted easily with new experiences. Anterograde Oracles are an extreme version of this. Every time they experience something, the line that is traced in their brains is instantly wiped away. Every experience feels brand new to them, so they often appear “dazzled,” and quickly tire when lots of activity is going on.

Retrograde Oracles are the opposite. The grooves in their brains are deep and difficult to change. Every experience feels old and repetitive to them. Our two retrograde Oracles describe their lives as being “round,” a sentiment shared by many other retrogrades that I interviewed. I understand this to mean that they feel things often repeat themselves in history and life, and that they often experience a feeling of deja vu. I believe this to be the reason retrogrades tend to be depressive. Another reason for the depression could be the fact that they have no real concept of the future. One of our retrogrades has repeatedly expressed a feeling of doom, as if she is about to die. In fact, retrograde brains react to the world as if they are dying. This is, I believe, the cause of their frequent tactile and visceral hallucinations. This death belief is apparent especially in the early stages of the syndrome, during which retrograde Oracles frequently become ill during or after visions. It’s the brain’s last desperate attempt to save the body it believes is dying.

Contemporaneous Oracles, on the other hand, have no real concept of life at all. They are under the impression that existence is all there is, as they can’t remember that they were ever born, nor can they conceive of their death. In their minds, they are convinced that they have always been and always will be. This subtype arguably has the most information in their brains. Unlike antero/retrogrades, they know every last piece of information currently in the universe. With this information, they are able to predict the future with startling accuracy and see the past with absolute precision. However, they cannot recall specific times when asked, so they cannot make these predictions upon request. Rather, they will answer only truths that are currently happening. This inconceivably large amount of information has their brains running at full speed all the time. All contemporaneous Oracles are insomniacs. The lack of sleep as well as the continuous onslaught of beta brainwaves is responsible for their strange sentence structure and frequent visual hallucinations.

As a whole, Oracles struggle to understand reality and prefer to live within their minds, watching the universe play out over time as if they were sat in a theater watching actors on a stage. I believe that letting them do so is the kindest thing, and I support the use of Veritaserum wholeheartedly. This concludes my notes for the psychological section of Pythia.

 

**PART 3: LIVING ENVIRONMENT AND ACCESSIBILITY**

The following is a collection of documents selected by lead medic Henry Nott. As above, information has been redacted where necessary in order to preserve the privacy of those involved in the study.

 

Notes:

 

I have designed what I believe to be the best living arrangement option for people living with Oracle syndrome. Firstly, there are a few things we must take into consideration when building such a compound.

  * Wanderers. Oracles are very much like dementia patients in that they will wander off and get into danger without realizing what they’re doing. With this in mind, I suggest that we design all doors we don’t want them walking through to look like walls, bookshelves, windows, etc.
  * Freedom. Although they may act like it, our Oracles are not children. I believe that they should have as much autonomy as we can grant them. To do this, I suggest that we design the compound to look like a neighborhood. Let them have their own space, and grant them the freedom to choose when to walk around outdoors, when to eat, and when to sleep. Of course, everything should be made safe and we must observe them at all times, but at the very least the impression of autonomy should be given wherever possible.
  * Safety. Oracles under proper care should not be a danger to themselves. However, by the nature of their disability, they are a highly desirous target for others. Fidelius, Protego Totalum, and Muggle repelling charms are the minimum requirement for such a place.



 

Here is my sketch of what the compound should look like. I suggest we bring in an actual architect to design the real thing, but this is at least something to go off of.

 

 

  1. Individual houses designed to give some independance to the residents. Each one should hold about [NUMBER REDACTED] people, ideally of mixed subtypes. They seem to work better when paired with other Oracles of different types.
  2. General store. Here, food and basics should be set up in the style of a general store. This allows the residents to run errands and think for themselves about what they might need. Nurses should be available to assist.
  3. Recreation center. Games, crafts, and other activities should be available here. This will provide a nice indoor place for the residents to gather and socialize, as well as serving as a friendly environment for therapy.
  4. Garden. Some of the Oracles enjoy being in nature. As in Yellowstone, they’ll be able to tend to the plants and recreation area on their own, which will provide them some meaningful activities as well as a nice, safe place to be outdoors.
  5. This is a clinic for hospital staff. It should be equipped with basic first aid, and will also have nurse’s offices.



 

All of this will fit easily on the piece of land at [LOCATION REDACTED], so I don’t think we’ll have a problem constructing something on this scale. If anyone has any questions, there’s more information in the [TITLE REDACTED] brochure, or you can owl me and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. This concludes my notes for the environmental design section, as well as the Mediwizard team’s notes on The Pythia Project. Thanks to everyone who participated, especially our Oracles and their families. I hope to continue to foster relationships with you all, and I wish you luck on the rest of your journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> James bounced a screaming baby Hank on his hip as he scanned the Pythia documents. “Why must I read this?” he gave Lily a withering look. “I told you I didn’t want anything to do with it.”  
> “I’m not going to force you to read them, James, but I think you should at least have them.” Lily crossed her arms to prevent James handing the documents back to her. “Your name is still on the approved visitors list at the Dodona Compound, you can go there any time.”  
> James grimaced. “I’m moving on, Lils. I did my grieving. I really don’t want to relive it. You were the one that told me to give up on him anyways, I don’t see why you’ve changed your mind.”  
> Lily scowled. “I haven’t! Look, you’re under no obligation to visit him, nor are you obliged to read this. I just want to give you the option.”  
> James stared at the stack of papers for a while before sighing and handing both the papers and Hank to Lisa. He stepped out of the kitchen into the sitting room, gesturing for Lily to follow. “Okay,” he said once they were alone. “I feel fucking guilty about this, but I’m absolutely not going to read that or visit Al.” He looked away. “I’m not like you, Lil, I can’t just… continue. I don’t want you to think I don’t… miss him or whatever because I fucking do. A lot. And I know he’s your brother too and you went through the same shit, but…” His voice wavered. “You’re not- you’re just good at this kind of stuff. It still kills me to think about him. It makes me physically sick to my stomach if I dwell on it too long. I know, it’s horrible, it-it’s…” He took a shaking breath and shook his head. “I know I’m supposed to- to give unconditional support but I can’t. Like you said, self preservation isn’t a crime, right? I just- I can’t- he’s too-” His voice gave out and he turned away. “Fuck. Shit. Sorry.”  
> Lily reached out hesitantly to pat him on the back. “Alright. I understand. Just… he’s happy now, okay? He’s at Dodona with Scorpius and all of his friends, and…” She laughed lightly. “I think this is probably the happiest he’s ever been. He always was such a miserable bastard…”  
> James turned around with red rimmed eyes, looking a bit surprised at Lily’s language. It was unusual for her to say things like that. He nodded. “Alright. Just… leave me out of the discussion. In the future.”  
> “Sure.” Lily held out her arms, prompting James to give her a hug. She held him tightly. “Everything’s okay now. It’s all over. We’re gonna be okay.”


End file.
